EuroHaptics 2022 – Workshop Sunday 22.05.2022

HANDS-ON TUTORIAL: PARTICIPATORY INTEGRATION OF HAPTIC ACTUATORS AND THEIR LIMITATIONS

The workshop will offer a variety of different demonstrators and a modularized system in order to experience and evaluate core considerations when integrating active haptic actuators into any application. The main take-away is aimed at the influences of different decoupling strategies, the proper and fitting selection of haptic actuators, and the understanding for the need for accurate quantification of haptics for improvements based on the current build-up. We want to make clear, that the „golden finger“of a decision maker is not a reliable source for data-based decisions on different haptic profiles. Improvements/changes must be driven by data and evidence.Improvements/changes must be driven by data. The subjectiveness of “pleasant” perception will be displayed and discussed accordingly.

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKSHOP

Due to the expertise in the integration of haptics into various applications, we can showcase which typical pitfalls are prone to happen. In addition, there is an extensive discussion about HD Haptics ( perception-level and hardware-level) as well as the non-standardized objective description of what is crispy, strong, weak, or pleasant.

There are three main things to put into consideration:

– Decoupling strategy
– Sensing
– Quantification and data-driven improvements/adjustments.

The target is to give the participants tools to be able to justify that their choice of actuators and decouplers achieve the best haptic, where „best haptics“ is a non-defined word. There is an approach of HD-Haptics based on the properties of the components, but it is questionable if everyone will perceive the by HD-actuators generated haptic profile as “high definition”. The HD-Haptic definition focuses on the capabilities of the actual hardware component. If it meets certain technical criteria, it will be characterized as HD-Haptic actuator.

Once the driving is always the same and reproducible, the try of definition then takes place. This will be realized by our haptic-evaluation board specifically design for driving electromagnetic actuators. Therewith, one will be able to note down the numbers (frequency, amplitude, time) needed for a desired haptic signal.

BUT driving an actuator with a specific input signal does not automatically mean it’ll result in the same output signal on the surface (discrepancies of theoretical driving and actual influences of the overall system). Hence one needs to find a way to measure the output/the real world. Here, our Artificial Finger gets into play. With the ArFi, one is able to distinctively analyze the vibration on any vibrating surface within their dominating frequency, acceleration and haptic pulse perception (GHIV).

There is one thing, that needs to be considered, that might be more important than any consideration of haptic signal, any improvements, any decoupling strategy: It is the latency of a system. It is the latency of a system. Through the unique capabilities of the human brain, one is able to perceive just the slightest latency in time. Hence the latency between the moment, the receptors recognize a touch event on any surface until the point in time where the surface begins to vibrate /the haptic starts must be as short as possible. We saw a specification with a required latency of only 20 ms.

And within this time, the following needs to happen:

– Sensing detects the appearance of a finger input.
– Processing of sensor input and relation between sensor location and desired trigger signal
– Output of trigger signal
– Movement generated by the applied current on the actuator.

So the main outtakes, that anyone attending the workshop should get are the followings:

– Get to know pitfalls while integrating active haptic actuators
– Grasp the influence of different driving and decoupling setups as well as stiffness of different surfaces ( eg. Metal, plastics, wood,   fiberglass…)
– Understand the necessity of a sound design rather than the sound elimination
– Understand how data-driven decision making on haptics will improve the development and integration process
– Discussion based on individual preferences, with which driving setup & technology HD haptics is perceived.
– Continuous pinpointing that the perception of haptics is individual and that there is no common sense on it yet

 

DESCRIPTION WORKSHOP FORMAT

The workshop will be held on-site, being an interactive format that can not be attended virtually. Due to measurement results, different interpretations of the haptics will be present, which will then be discussed. Once everyone has finished the exercises, discussions on how different stiffnesses, damping factors, etc influence the overall system will start. By starting this discussion, we hope that junior researchers will understand the challenges of integrating and quantifying haptics in real-world and learn from the insights of experienced people. On the other hand, well-known knowledge might get challenged or at least questioned so that a discussion of the status quo will start.

From this, we aim to have and develop not yet existing insights into the need of quantification and based on each individual task of the participants, have everyone in the position of having THEIR understanding for a pleasant and defined feedback ( supported by actual measures.)

 

SPEAKERS

Anouschka Esselun
Expert in electronic driving & measuring

Daniel Santella
Expert in mechanical integration and decoupling strategies

Elisa Santella
Managing director, expert for the automotive market within haptics

Ralf Sandomeer
Managing director, expert in acoustics

 

TIMELINE

12-14 Uhr
Hands-on: Usage of different technologies ( LRA, ERM, VCA, Exciter, Piezos) and participation on each individual task.

14:00 – 14:15
Coffee

14:15 – 15:00
Analyse of different driving setups. Individual discussion time.

15:00 – 16:00
Discussion of ALL participants on the perception of haptic. Aim: General definition creation and understanding, what is perceived as high definition and pleasant. Therefore, it is aimed to have at least 5 bullet points per characterisation.

 

LOCATION

EuroHaptics 2022
22.05. – 25.05.2022

TUHH Hamburg University of Technology
Gebäude H
Am Schwarzenberg-Campus 5
21073 Hamburg

Workshop Time
Sunday, 22.05.2022
12.00 – 4.00 pm

 

MORE INFORMATION AT THE WEBSITE