SBIR Phase I: Use of EPAM for Tactile Displays and Haptic Actuators

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目是为了确定盲人触觉产品的可行性，该产品结合了SRI国际专利的电活性聚合物人工肌肉（EPAM）技术和现代电子和计算机技术。这些产品将大大增加盲人的教育和职业机会。第一阶段的研究目标包括评估3x3触觉致动器矩阵，以确定其扩展到：a)动态振动模式下的36x12矩阵；以及b)静态模式下的整页盲文显示。其他目标还包括确定如何将这项技术整合到为盲人提供文本文档、图表、地图、互联网、电子邮件和屏幕显示的产品中。该研究将包括在振动和静态模式下构建和测试触觉刺激器阵列，以确定：1)支持所需振幅和力的能力；2)动态功耗；3)所需电压；4)可扩展性到所需的矩阵大小；5)可制造性包括成本和自动化。高压驱动器的可行性，以及将其他组件整合到所需封装中也将进行研究。预期的结果将决定这些革命性的盲人触觉显示产品的可行性。这项研究更广泛的影响/商业潜力是基于提供使用触觉代替或增强视觉和听觉的技术。最有效的触觉显示器是Optacon，它由一个24x6的压电芦苇阵列组成。包括接触手指的引脚在内，这个阵列在6个重叠的平面上有288个手工组装的离散组件和432个手工连接的焊点。其结果是建造昂贵的显示器，占用了相当大的空间。EPAM技术有望将离散组件减少到具有单独可寻址图案区域的单个单片聚合物片，因此在大大提高可制造性的同时降低了成本和空间。盲人产品的市场细分是学校和大学、国家康复部门、公司、政府机构、私人组织和个人。目标是通过降低价格来提高盲目性领域的潜在商业价值，从而扩大单个细分市场。盲人领域的社会影响将是增加他们的就业和独立性。这项研究将加强对人类触觉能力的科学和技术理解，以及如何建立有效利用触觉的系统。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to determine the feasibility of tactile products for the blind incorporating SRI International's proprietary Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle (EPAM) technology with modern electronics and computer technologies. Such products would significantly enhance the educational and vocational opportunities of the blind. The Phase I research objectives include evaluating 3x3 tactile actuator matrices to determine their suitability for expansion to: a) a 36x12 matrix in a dynamic vibratory mode; and b) a full page Braille display in a static mode.Additional objectives will include determining how this technology can be incorporated in products for blind people that provide access to text documents, graphs, maps, Internet, email, screen displays. The research will involve building and testing tactile stimulator arrays in vibratory and static modes to determine the: 1) capability to support the required amplitudes and forces; 2) dynamic power consumption; 3) required voltages; 4) scalability to the desired matrix size; and 5) manufactureability including cost and automation. The feasibility of high voltage drivers, and the incorporation of other components into the desired package will also be researched. The anticipated results will determine the feasibility of these revolutionary tactile display products for the blind.The broader impacts/commercial potential of the research is based on providing technology that uses the sense of touch to substitute for, or to augment, vision and hearing. The most effective tactile display has been that in the Optacon, which consisted of a 24x6 array of piezoelectric reeds. Including the pins that contacted the finger, this array had 288 hand-assembled discrete components and 432 hand-wired solder joints on 6 overlapping planes. The result was an expensive to build display that consumed considerable space. EPAM technology promises to reduce the discrete components to a single monolithic polymeric sheet with individually addressable patterned areas, so cost and space are reduced while greatly improving manufactureability. Market segments for blindness products are schools and universities, state departments of rehabilitation, corporations, government agencies, private organizations, and individuals. A goal is to improve the potential commercial value in the blindness field by reducing the price so the individual market segment is larger. The societal impact in the blindness field would be in their increased employment and independence. The research would enhance scientific and technological understanding in the capabilities of the human sense of touch and how to build systems that effectively use it.