2020 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Multihaptics: A novel multipurpose haptic unit to accelerate haptic integration
| Project/Area Number |
20K19838
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
サラザル ホセ 東北大学, 工学研究科, 助教 (90838054)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | ハプティクス / HCI / 触覚 / 運動誘導 |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Throughout FY 2020-2021 we worked on the design and implementation of the three main components of the project: 1) Haptic unit 2) Haptic tips and 3) Software
Haptic Unit: Three different prototypes were designed and manufactured. We selected the components of the haptic units based on an analysis of the haptic interaction. Each prototype contains a small motor to actuate the Haptic tips, as well as sensors (motor encoder, 9DOF IMU). The first and second prototype were built with off-the-shelf boards, so the footprint was comparatively large. The third prototype was implemented using a custom PCB designed specifically for the unit, making it very reduced in size (36x20mm). Each unit is fully programmable, so the Firmware can be upgraded over time.
Haptic Tips: We designed and implemented haptic tips for two different types of interactions: tapping and skin dragging. The tips were designed so they could be easily attached to the haptic unit, using a cantilever snap-fit mechanism. We confirmed that the tips could be properly attached to the haptic unit, and that the corresponding tactile interaction was properly produced.
Software: We developed the first version of the Firmware for the Haptic Unit, which allows it to communicate with a PC using Bluetooth Low Energy, as well as read the sensors and control the motor's position/velocity accordingly. An early version of the haptic interaction design GUI was also developed and evaluated using System Usability Score metrics. The results showed that the proposed GUI accelerated the haptic interaction development process significantly.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The project has advanced as planned, and the current prototypes enabled us to verify the feasibility of the proposed concept. Due to the coronavirus, we experienced some delays in the design amid 2020, but we were able to compensate for this throughout the end of 2020 and start of 2021.
The dissemination and exploitation of the project's results has been slightly affected by COVID-19. We expect to publish the first report of the project in a Journal within this year.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
For the next year, we have the following goals:
A) Improving the prototype, and evaluating the addition of more sensors (e.g., MEMS force sensors) to evaluate the haptic interaction.
B) Develop new haptic tip mechanisms, for tactile interactions such as squeezing and vibration.
C) Implement control algorithms on the firmware to enable the unit to perform feedback control, thus guaranteeing the quality of the haptic interaction.
D) Search for possible contributors, to evaluate the developed devices outside of a lab environment, and test its feasibility and ease of use in diverse scenarios and applications.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Due to COVID-19, it was not possible to use the budget allocated for dissemination and information gathering on national and international conferences. We'll reallocate this budget to increase the number of produced units and have a larger scale test of the unit in the next year.
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