'ForSe FIE lds'-Force Sensors for Interactive Environments

1999

Conventional force sensors are overdesigned for use in measuring human force inputs, such as is needed in research and application of human/robot interaction. A new type of force sensor is introduced that is suited to human-robot interaction. This sensor is based on optoelectronic measurements rather than strain gauges. Criteria for material selection and dimensioning are given, and results for linearity, noise, and drift are reported.

Sensors, 2011

This paper describes the design and calibration of a thimble that measures the forces applied by a user during manipulation of virtual and real objects. Haptic devices benefit from force measurement capabilities at their end-point. However, the heavy weight and cost of force sensors prevent their widespread incorporation in these applications. The design of a lightweight, user-adaptable, and cost-effective thimble with four contact force sensors is described in this paper. The sensors are calibrated before being placed in the thimble to provide normal and tangential forces. Normal forces are exerted directly by the fingertip and thus can be properly measured. Tangential forces are estimated by sensors strategically placed in the thimble sides. Two applications are provided in order to facilitate an evaluation of sensorized thimble performance. These applications focus on: (i) force signal edge detection, which determines task segmentation of virtual object manipulation, and (ii) the development of complex object manipulation models, wherein the mechanical features of a real object are obtained and these features are then reproduced for training by means of virtual object manipulation.

2017

With the development of smart devices supporting VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality), users' input devices are changing to wearable devices. The existing input devices for gesture recognition were relatively rigid. In this research, we propose a gesture recognition device by using a flexible substrate to manufacture a device that can be used in close contact with a user's wrist. An array of flexible resistive strain gauge sensors was fabricated for sensing spatial muscle movements of the wrist. The fabricated strain sensors showed a linearly varying output characteristic, and a sensitivity of 0.05143 Ω/g was obtained for a load test from 0 to 500 g. A circuit board for processing sensor data was fabricated and a program was coded for collecting the sensor data from the circuit board. With this system, it was confirmed that the average recognition rate per gesture is 94.6% after applying these input devices directly to five basic wrists gestures on five test subjects.

2009

Abstract This paper presents a new force-sensitive surface designed for playing music. A prototype system has been implemented using a passive capacitive sensor, a commodity multichannel audio interface, and decoding software running on a laptop computer. This setup has been a successful, lowcost route to a number of experiments in intimate musical control. Keywords: Multitouch, sensors, tactile, capacitive, percussion controllers.

Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 2013

We present a sensor technology for the measure of the physical human-robot interaction pressure developed in the last years at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna. The system is composed of flexible matrices of opto-electronic sensors covered by a soft silicone cover. This sensory system is completely modular and scalable, allowing one to cover areas of any sizes and shapes, and to measure different pressure ranges. In this work we present the main application areas for this technology. A first generation of the system was used to monitor human-robot interaction in upper-(NEUROExos; Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna) and lower-limb (LOPES; University of Twente) exoskeletons for rehabilitation. A second generation, with increased resolution and wireless connection, was used to develop a pressure-sensitive foot insole and an improved human-robot interaction measurement systems. The experimental characterization of the latter system along with its validation on three healthy subjects is presented here for the first time. A perspective on future uses and development of the technology is finally drafted.

TEI '15 Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 2015

We present SOFTii, a flexible input system for topography design and continuous control via external force. Our intent is to provide a tactile metaphor for pressure-based surface input. In this study, two prototypes of SOFTii have been fabricated: (a) The first prototype has one pressure surface for topography design with everyday tangible objects, (b) the second prototype, having two force input surfaces, performs as a deformable controller for video games and continuous shape modeling using a SVM algorithm. Both prototypes of SOFTii are constructed by layering Polymethylsiloxane (PDMS), ITO coated PET film, and conductive fabric and foam. The layer configuration allows the capturing of local pressure on the SOFTii surface via distributed electrodes. Here we further discuss the implementation of the device with possible usage scenarios.

2012

Tangible tabletop musical interfaces allowing for a collaborative real-time interaction in live music performances are one of the promising fields in NIMEs. At present, this kind of interfaces present at least some of the following characteristics that limit their musical use: latency in the interaction, and partial or complete lack of responsiveness to gestures such as tapping, scrubbing or pressing force. Our current research is exploring ways of improving the quality of interaction with this kind of interfaces, and in particular with the tangible tabletop instrument Reactable . In this paper we present a system based on a circular array of mechanically intercoupled force sensing resistors used to obtain a low-latency, affordable, and easily embeddable hardware system able to detect surface impacts and pressures on the tabletop perimeter. We also consider the option of completing this detected gestural information with the sound information coming from a contact microphone attache...

IEEE, 2002

This paper presents the construction and theory of operation of a large area, flexible, tactile sensor and its applications. The sensing mechanism is based on the novel contact piezoresistive effect. Furthermore, the sensor's resolution, size and shape can be easily tailored to the applications' requirements. This versatility facilitates the use of the sensor in smart applications where tactile information is

A 1-D touch panel based on strain sensing has been designed and realized as a preliminary test protocol for evaluating smart floor tile design used for indoor localization. By using elementary beam theory, it is possible to inversely compute the location of the force applied based on the outputs of strain gauges attached to each end of the touch panel. Detailed 3D finite element analyses are performed to examine the design concept and to evaluate the effect of boundary conditions and sensor gain differences, as well as possible strain gauge attachment errors. In typical practical applications, the prediction based on 1-D beam mechanics agrees with 3D finite element analysis within 3% error. However, the analytical design approach breaks down near both beam ends, reducing the effective sensing zone. The experimental data also agrees with the analytical results very well. Under an applied force of 1 N, the effective sensing zone is near 70% and the spatial resolution is between ±0.21 and ±0.37 cm. This resolution is sufficient for a finger touch device and is much higher for smart floor applications. The lessons and conclusion learned from this test stage then serve as the basis for more realistic 2D smart floor tile designs currently underway for smart building applications.