Thermopneumatic actuator for tactile displays and smart actuation circuitry

F. Vidal-Verdu; Manuel J. Madueno; Rafael Navas

doi:10.1117/12.607603

1 July 2005 Thermopneumatic actuator for tactile displays and smart actuation circuitry

F. Vidal-Verdu, Manuel J. Madueno, Rafael Navas

Proceedings Volume 5836, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS II; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.607603
Event: Microtechnologies for the New Millennium 2005, 2005, Sevilla, Spain

Abstract

This paper presents a thermopneumatic actuator to build large tactile displays as well as a smart activation circuitry to study and improve its performance. Since the main drawback of large tactile screens in the market is their cost, this proposal is intended to reduce the price because of the simplicity of the actuator and the potential low cost assembling. A small display with 4 x 4 taxels and 2.54mm of distance between centres has been built to show the viability of the proposal. Furthermore, a smart actuation strategy is implemented where the heater element (a diode) is also used as sensor in a feedback control loop that improves the dynamic response. Such strategy consists in sensing the voltage drop in the diode to measure its temperature, thus it can be heated up quickly without being destroyed because power supply is decreased once the target temperature is reached. We have measured rise times around 2 seconds and fall times around 4 seconds, while the maximum force and stroke are above 10grams (0.1N) and 1mm respectively. The obtained results are good, specially to implement a large tactile screen. Power consumption is high, but it could be lower if latching mechanisms are used to keep the taxel active without power supply.

Citation Download Citation

F. Vidal-Verdu, Manuel J. Madueno, and Rafael Navas "Thermopneumatic actuator for tactile displays and smart actuation circuitry", Proc. SPIE 5836, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS II, (1 July 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.607603

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