LinkTouch: A wearable haptic device with five-bar linkage mechanism for presentation of two-DOF force feedback at the fingerpad

Abstract

We propose a new wearable haptic display LinkTouch which provides high fidelity force vector sensation at the fingerpad. The key feature of the device is in the inverted five-bar linkage. Two DC motors driving cranks of the five-bar linkage mechanism are mounted at sides of distal phalanx. Rotation of the motors in the same direction defines the contact point coordinates while rotation of the motors in the opposite directions generates the pressure. Therefore, a 2-DoF force feedback at the fingerpad is available. Additionally, the device is capable of representing the transitional state from noncontact to contact condition. With the proposed structure a highly realistic force vector feedback can be achieved. In the paper we describe the mechanism structure, kinematics, static force analysis, and design principle.