Abstract
This paper presents a magneto-rheological (MR) actuator that can be easily inserted into haptic shoes and can haptically simulate the material properties of the ground. To increase the resistive force of the proposed actuator, we designed a movable piston having multiple operation modes of MR fluids. Further, the design of a solenoid coil was optimized to maximize the resistive force in a limited-sized MR actuator. Simulations were conducted to predict the actuation performance and to show that the magnetic flux flows well by forming a closed loop in the proposed actuator. The quantitative evaluation of the proposed actuator was investigated by measuring the resistive force as a function of the input current and its pressed depth. From the result, we found that the proposed actuator can create over 600 N by adjusting the input current.
Highlights
Owing to the advances in virtual reality (VR) technology, users have become interested in walking and traveling in a virtual environment
We present a design of the proposed actuator based on the movable piston, where multiple operation modes of MR fluids contribute to the actuation at the sameMR
We presented a haptic actuator based on MR fluids for haptic shoes
Summary
Owing to the advances in virtual reality (VR) technology, users have become interested in walking and traveling in a virtual environment. Users treading on virtual ground want to detect and feel, their shapes or colors, and their material properties with visual and tactile sensations. Vibrotactile actuator-based haptic shoes can be fabricated in small size, it is not easy to simulate the hardness and shape of the ground haptically. Horodniczy and Cooperstock developed a friction-varying mechanism using a step motor and brake pads and attached it to a haptic shoe [8] Even though these devices haptically simulate a variety of mechanical properties of the ground and its shape, conventional mechanisms, including AC/DC/step motors are too bulky/heavy to be inserted into shoes. Our previous studies used the flow mode of MR fluids to create haptic sensations and allowed users to haptically sense the material property of the ground [16]. This paper presents a simulation of the resistive force as a function of input current and details of an experiment to obtain the resistive force
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