Origami unfolds as force feedback haptics
Still under development to be commercialized by spin-off startup Foldaway Haptics, the so-called Foldaway device leverages well established planar manufacturing techniques such as lamination and printed-circuit microelectro-mechanical systems (PC-MEMS) to offer unobtrusive and cost-effective force feedback haptics. Two device implementations are described in the
with 3 degrees of freedom.
Nature Machine Intelligence journal in a paper titled “A portable three-degrees-of-freedom force feedback origami robot for human–robot interactions”, a delta version and a push-button version. Both could become low-cost PC peripherals, akin to a mouse. Integrated into the touch-pad area of a laptop, the Foldaway buttons could enable users to feel the textures or the stiffness of objects as seen on screen or in virtual reality environments, accurately rendering touch sensations during interactions with virtual objects.
For the push-button version, three individual micro-motors are linked via bevelled gears to a three-legged flat structure. Each actuator imparts movements, forces and vibrations along a distinct direction slotted into the base, folding the legs along a pre-defined pattern of joints to take a 3D, button-like shape. The upper tip of this moving origami mechanism is the actual user interface, transmitting sensations and force feedback to the user’s finger to reproduce the physical interaction with objects or forms. Hall effect sensors keep track of the tip’s movements so the whole system can be controlled via a retro-feedback loop.
haptic force feedback in a virtual reality environment.
The delta version is aimed at larger movements, to be used like a joystick where users actually grab the tip and interact with it in all directions. With a footprint under 100x100mm and just about 30mm thick (to accommodate the DC micro-motors), the devices were successfully tested to navigate an atlas of the human anatomy, giving users different sensations upon passing on various organs based on their known stiffness (lungs, bones, heartbeat etc..). As a virtual reality joystick, the Foldaway gave users the sensation of grasping virtual objects and perceiving their stiffness, modulating the force generated when the interface was pressed.
Another use case described in the paper is a control interface for drones, increasing the pilot’s awareness on drone’s behaviour and of the effects of wind or other environmental factors.
EPFL – www.epfl.ch
NCCR Robotics – www.nccr-robotics.ch
Foldaway Haptics – www.foldaway-haptics.com
Related articles:
UltraHaptics promises airborne tactile interfaces
Augmented reality gets physical with haptics
Close encounter of the haptic type
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