Post by Mechanical Engineering at TU/e

Reinventing digital touch with soft, air-driven actuators Tactile perception, our ability to experience the world through touch, is increasingly makings its way into digital technology to create more natural and immersive experiences. Common examples include vibration alerts on phones and tactile feedback in gaming controllers, but it can also support advanced applications such as minimally invasive robotic surgery. However, much of the potential of haptics, the use of tactile perception in technology, remains unexplored because the field is complex and there is a limited availability of hardware capable of generating diverse and well-controlled tactile sensations. In his PhD research, Krishna Dheeraj Kommuri addresses these challenges by introducing the Pneumatic Unit Cell (PUC) actuator to enable research into tactile perception. A tactile actuator system should deliver multiple forms of tactile stimuli, adapt to sensitivity differences across the body, function both as a single actuator and within an array, and allow flexible array configurations to support a variety of research needs. In addition, the system should be easy to fabricate and cost-effective to ensure accessibility for researchers. Based on these requirements, Krishna Dheeraj Kommuri presents the PUC actuator. This silicone-based, air-driven actuator can provide both static pressure and vibration, enabling a wider range of tactile sensations than many commercially available alternatives. Krishna Dheeraj Kommuri defended his PhD thesis at the Department of Mechanical Engineering on January 22. Read more ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eGgJNxZS Supervisors: Irene Kuling, Henk Nijmeijer and Femke van Beek Robotics (RBT) TU/e EAISI – Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute ICMS - Institute for Complex Molecular Systems