Design analysis and fabrication of arrayed tactile display based on dielectric elastomer actuator

The tactile display is an important tool to help the human interact with machines by using feels of touch. In this paper, we present a multiply arrayed tactile display device with Dielectric Elastomer Actuator (DEA). The device employs the liquid coupling between the touch spot and the actuator as the transmission of force. It is designed to ensure the comfort of touch and the safety of operation for the users while contacting with the human skin. The operating principle is explained in details, and a systematic design analysis is given. The displacements of tactile display is about 240-120 mu m at 3-10 Hz, which satisfies the frequency requirements for simulating the Merkel cells as well as the Meissner corpuscles and the force is over 40 mN to simulate the finger tip. In addition, a dedicated fabrication method and performance measurements are explained. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.