Haptic technology is the current hottest trend and has been developed in different forms. In spite of the various kinds of haptic technologies used, they all function around the same type of principle by making use of a combination of vibration, motion, and force to restrategize the touching sense. In this blog, we will have a look over the Haptic technology or the sensors and their working mechanism in depth.
Haptic sensors or technology are growing significantly and are used in different types of industries from Games console controllers to automobiles and smartphones. Few of the statistics have indicated that the implementation and production of haptic technologies will be $12.9 billion industry by the end of 2022.
Haptic technology is associated often with the clicks and buzzes of the notifications, alerts from our smartphones and the perceptive way they give us assessment as we interact with the technology or system. Haptic Technology is not new to the industry, they have used by manufacturers in electronics before the ’90s. Haptics is used mainly in automotive and medical applications. There are three different haptic technologies namely ERMV (Eccentric Rotating Mass Vibration) motors, LRAs (Linear Resonant Actuators) and Piezoelectric Actuators.
Working Mechanism of Haptics Technology:
Apart from utilizing the vibration, motion, and forces, Haptics sensors make use of a force assessment loop to deploy the user movement goes beyond a vibration alert. The primary haptic technology principle is the electric current generation which drives a response in creating a vibration. This vibration process defines the variations of the technologies.
Regardless, not all haptic technology needs touch to work and this is known as non-contact haptics and make use of sensors technologies like concentrated air pockets and ultrasound to create an interactive 3D space all-around the user. After this, the user can interact with the device space without any physical touch.
Let’s have a detailed look over the three types of haptic sensors and their principle of working in depth.
Eccentric Rotating Mass Vibration:
The working mechanism of ERMV is as similar to the DC motor. The Electric current generates a magnetic field, and this magnetic field makes use of the off-center bias from the rotation point to drive an object in a circle. The magnetic force spread over the rotating mass builds an irregular centripetal force which induces the motor to produce a lateral vibration as well as forward and backward motions. The vibration intensity induced by Eccentric Rotating Mass Vibration is dependent often on the electrical conduction supplied to the system or device. When the driving circuit is simple, and ERMV’s would be the perfect haptic technology of choice.
Linear Resonant Actuators:
Linear Resonant Actuators utilizes both electrical conduction and magnetic fields to build an oscillating force along the single axis. When compared with Eccentric Rotating Mass Vibration, LRA’s skips DC and makes use of an AC Voltage. This electronic conduction drives a voice call that is forced besides a moving mass. A magnetic field is created when the voice call resonates with a similar frequency of the spring. The magnetic field stimulates the actuator to vibrate with a motion which can be left by a human. One can quickly change the AC input and adjust the Linear Resonance Actuators. LRSs can be used during the critical start/stop timing, and the vibration amplitude requires independent adjustment or the circuit can enforce a driver chip.
Piezoelectric Actuators:
Piezoelectric actuators are developed with a kind of ceramic material which contracts or expands when electric conduction is applied, generating force and motion. When a differential voltage is enforced amidst both Piezo actuator ends, it deforms or bends, producing a vibration.
When compared to both ERMV’s and LRA’s, Piezoelectric actuators are more precise due to their vibration ability at a full frequency and amplitude ranges which can be controlled independently using the driving AC voltage. The vibration and springs resonant frequencies do not rely on others so that the frequency can be altered freely without any significant efficiency loss.
The three crucial characterizations that have impeded broader adoption of this piezoelectric actuators is the power consumption, fragile nature of the materials and component cost.
With the continued proliferation of smartphones, hardware devices, and gaming, haptics technology will play an important part in bridging the personal device experience.