Biomimetic Tactile Surface Display using Magnetorheological Fluid

초록

Biomimetic tactile surface display is investigated to characterize the feeling of human touch for an application such as artificial skin and biomimetic surfaces. In order to represent the biomimetic tactile feeling, a tactile surface incorporating Magnetorheological (MR) fluid has been proposed. MR Fluid is a sort of smart materials, and the mechanical properties of MR fluid can be changed depending on the strength of the applied magnetic field. The proposed tactile display simulates the touched skin to feel the sensations of contact such as compliance, friction, and topography of the biomimetic surface. Thus, the tactile surface can provide information on the surface of an organic tissue to the surgeon in virtual reality. In order to investigate the compliance feeling of a human finger’s touch, normal force responses of a tactile surface under various magnetic fields have been assessed. Also, shearing friction force responses of the tactile surface are investigated to simulate the action of finger dragging on the surface. Moreover, different matrix arrays of magnetic poles are applied to form the surface topography. From the results, different tactile feelings are observed according to the applied magnetic field strength as well as the arrays of magnetic poles combinations. This research presents a biomimetic tactile surface technology for the application of artificial skins.