N. Diaz Armas, S. Thakur, J. Zhang, C. Onal, J. Mead
University of Massachusetts Lowell,
United States
Keywords: braided composites, haptic feedback, teleoperation
Summary:
When performing teleoperation tasks under unpredictable conditions, relying solely on visual feedback is not sufficient. Therefore, the presence of haptic feedback becomes crucial, allowing humans to control a robot effectively and instinctively while providing an immersive experience.[1][2] Since hands play an essential role on perception tasks, haptic gloves are among the most relevant types of haptic devices.[3] In this work, we present a pneumatic driven soft robotic actuator capable of providing haptic feedback to the fingers using a new fabrication process involving braided composites. The utilization of braided composites allows for the customization of mechanical properties, and it preserves the much-needed attributes of flexibility, foldability, and impermeability to air. Through the manipulation of the braiding angle, we fabricate multiple devices, focusing on both mechanical properties and their effectiveness in transmitting haptic sensations to the user's finger. The resulting haptic device is designed to be flexible, lightweight, and wearable, offering a comfortable user experience. The pneumatic subsystem exhibits anisotropic properties, achieving desired inflation time scales and a duty cycle range response spanning from 20% to 100%. [1] R. Rameshwar, E. H. Skorina, and C. D. Onal, “Fabric-Silicone Composite Haptic Muscles for Sensitive Wearable Force Feedback,” ACM Int. Conf. Proceeding Ser., pp. 33–41, 2023, doi: 10.1145/3594806.3594853. [2] Y. Huang et al., “Recent advances in multi-mode haptic feedback technologies towards wearable interfaces,” Mater. Today Phys., vol. 22, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.mtphys.2021.100602. [3] M. W. Uddin, X. Zhang, and D. Wang, “A pneumatic-driven haptic glove with force and tactile feedback,” Proc. - 2016 Int. Conf. Virtual Real. Vis. ICVRV 2016, pp. 304–311, 2017, doi: 10.1109/ICVRV.2016.57.