Toshinobu Takei

Wearable artificial skin layer for the reconstruction of touched geometry by morphological computation

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a wearable haptic sensor for the reconstruction of the surface geometry of an object to be touched. The proposed haptic sensor is a thin rubber artificial skin layer that is formed around the users finger or other body part and contains a small embedded strain gauge for measuring large deformations. The sensor can be easily fabricated by rubber dipping. First, it was demonstrated that the proposed sensor is not only able to statically detect the curvature of the touched surface but can also measure deformations due to rapid light tapping with robustness against motion noise. As an illustrative demonstration of morphological computation in haptics, it was then demonstrated that it is possible to reconstruct the geometry of tiny undulations in the surface of the touched object from the information obtained by the proposed sensor. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Effect of tactile contact lens on rubber artificial skin layer with a strain gauge

This paper introduces an effect of tactile contact lens (TCL) on a rubber artificial skin layer with a strain gauge. The TCL is a non-mechatronic touch enhancing device. The TCL makes tactile perception of a surface undulation enhance when the TCL is traced a surface of a tactile target and laid between human skin and the surface traced. The rubber artificial skin layer with a strain gauge is a tactile sensor formed around a finger. The sensor can observe deformation of a finger wearing it by active touch. We have found a phenomenon that the sensor output is enhanced when a finger wearing the sensor and the TCL trace undulation surface. We evaluate an effect of the TCL on the sensor using the phenomenon.

On a Haptic Phenomenon by Combined Use of the Rubber Artificial Skin Layer with a Strain Gauge and the Tactile Contact Lens

In this paper, we report a haptic phenomenon observed by combined use of two haptic devices, which are a rubber artificial skin layer with a strain gauge and a tactile contact lens (TCL). The rubber artificial skin layer with a strain gauge is a tactile sensor formed around a finger. The sensor can observe deformation of a finger wearing it by active touch. The TCL is a non-mechatronic touch enhancing device. The TCL makes tactile perception of a surface undulation enhance when the TCL is traced a surface of a tactile target and laid between human skin and the surface traced. We prepare a haptic display using a McKibben rubber pneumatic actuator which is driven according to the sensor output for a demonstration.