The frictional pattern of tactile sensations in anthropomorphic fingertip

In this report, to consider the technology of frictional tactile sensations (FTS) for a prosthetic fingertip, the anthropomorphic fingertip (silicone) was compared with the human fingertip in terms of sliding friction (reciprocating sliding on an acrylic plate under a load force of similar to 2.5 N max.) and the prototype of a FTS was demonstrated. In the results, the friction coefficient of the human fingertip changed according to the contact location more than the anthropomorphic fingertip. In the demonstration, the prototype FTS that faked the human fingertip could generate a high friction coefficient and the peculiar signal pattern at each contact location. Moreover, the prototype FTS recognized a slight difference in the surface roughness of the copier paper. In conclusion, the friction coefficient in the human fingertip increases when increasing the contact area under the same load force. Increasing the contact area induces stiction and stick-slip phenomena, generating a high friction coefficient and vibrations. Moreover, the high friction coefficient amplifies slight contact signals and supports FTS in a prosthetic fingertip. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.