Abstract
<p>How human fingertip deforms during the interaction with the environment represents a fundamental action that shapes our perception of external world. In this work, we present the <em>proof of concept</em> of an experimental <em>in vivo</em> set up that enables to characterize the mechanical behavior of human fingertip, in terms of contact area, force and a preliminary estimation of pressure contour, while it is put in contact against a flat rigid surface. Experimental outcomes are then compared with the output of a 3D Finite Element Model (FEM) of the human fingerpad, built upon existing validated models. The good agreement between numerical and experimental data suggests the correctness of our procedure for measurement acquisitions and finger modeling. Furthermore, we will also discuss how our experimental data can be profitably used to estimate strain limiting deformation models for tactile rendering, while the here reported 3D FE model has also been profitably employed to investigate hypotheses on human tactile perception.</p>
Highlights
The investigation of the mechanisms determining human tactile perception represents a fundamental topic in haptics community
We present the proof of concept of an experimental in vivo set up that enables to characterize the mechanical behavior of human fingertip, in terms of contact area, force and a preliminary estimation of pressure contour, while it is put in contact against a flat rigid surface
The procedure that we used during the experiments was: i) the sensor was correctly positioned between the human fingerpad and the flat rigid surface; ii) the flat surface was moved in a controllable fashion against the fingerpad; iii) the film pressure sensor was removed and the pressure distribution profile, which arose from the contact between the two media, revealed
Summary
The investigation of the mechanisms determining human tactile perception represents a fundamental topic in haptics (i.e. the science and the technology of touch) community. If the comprehension of the underpinning human perceptual mechanisms is clearly the main goal of many neuroscientific studies, it could lead to a correct development of tactile devices and haptic systems, as they are intended to convey controllable and effective stimuli. Previous studies have determined the mechanical behaviour of human fingerpad under quasi-static and cycling loading, using indenters of various shapes and sizes [8]. At neurophysiological level, other works focused on the relationship between fingerpad mechanoreceptors response and different static and dynamic mechanical load stimuli [1], [4] and [9]. Looking at non-invasive methods for fingerpad pressure measurements (at the contact between the fingertip and the indenters) [10], they leverage upon different techniques, e.g. pressure sensitive films to determine the peak of force and the pressure centroid during the grasping of objects [11], or flat
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