Haptic Monitor Rig
We're always looking to find ways to surprise people with interesting uses of technology to increase engagement. We spend about 30% of our time with R&D projects to learn from and potentially sell into new projects.
Many years ago I created what I called a haptic monitor. Meaning that when you touch it, it responds to your touch physically, by moving in and out. I was hugely inspired by this project from Microsoft Research.
Our goal was to give on-screen elements a texture to the touch. A good example of this would be a 3D model of an orange. As you run your hand over the orange, the monitor would float in and out to give the impression of a physical 3D sphere, while the monitor would slightly vibrate as you moved your finger over the texture of the orange peel. By using the XY touch position, the monitor’s Z position would move in or out to where the 3D object was positioned in space. Another option is to use it the way the MS Research team does and scan through and visualize a 3D object in slices.
Most of the time building this was spent engineering the best way to support the monitor and move it in and out quickly as needed. I started by using linear gears and stepper motors as a prototype. But this turned out to be a disaster. The 3D printed stepper mounts would not hold the stepper well as the vibrations caused too much flex in the plastic and the screws just unscrewed themselves constantly.
The weight of the monitor and torque needed to push it in and out quickly was too much for the steppers as well. For the prototype, I’m using a couple Easy Drivers, from Brian Schmalz.
For the touch, we are using the touch screens XY input to track and use that data. But for the force of the touch, that is not part of the touch screen supplied data, so we have to add another sensor. I’m using an FSR, or force sensitive resistor mounted to the back of the display. It’s sandwiched in between the monitor and the mount. It’s basically a pressure sensor and provides resistance readings similar to a potentiometer and I’m using an Arduino to monitor it.
In a re-design, I will ditch the linear gear and built a belt-drive system, which is much cleaner. The weight of the front-heavy rig will be better distributed on the 8020 slotted rail with a much less friction. Hopefully, we'll have more on this one soon.
Author: Brian Dressel