A High Resolution Spatiotemporal Tactile Array

From the CRB Sylvia Tan, Ed Colgate, and Michael Peshkin alongside researchers from Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon present a new class of haptic devices that produces high resolution spatial and temporal patterns within a fingerpad.  The devices consist of an array (4×4, 6×6 or 8×8) of electroadhesive hemispherical brakes (“nubs”) that tilt into the finger. The array, which weighs 0.8 g, is worn on the fingertip and slid across an electrically grounded countersurface. The video demonstration shows the effect of: 1. Spatiotemporal information, and 2. Density of contact points.

The research was recently demoed at the 2024 IEEE Haptics Symposium.