Development of Tactile Display Device Using ERG Multiple-disk Clutch

Abstract

Nowadays, due to the widespread use of rehabilitation and virtual reality technology, tactile display systems have attracted the attention of researchers from the medical and amusement fields. A clutch mechanism that employs ER and MR fluids is appropriate for force transmission in a tactile display device, because the ER and MR effects are passive and safe for the operator compared with an active actuator using motor. The developed ERG produces approximately 20 times higher shear forces than ER fluid and exhibits stable performance. In this research, an ERG multiple-disk clutch is fabricated and applied to a tactile display system. The experimental results of the control test indicate that the tactile display system with the proposed control method can exhibit the ‘sense of touch’ of various viscous fluids.