Low-latency architectures for piezo-driven wearable haptic devices for industry 4.0 applications

The aim of the thesis is to advance the state of the art in the area of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) for Industry 4.0, with a focus on reducing the end to end latency of the HCI tactile technology. The ambition of the work being to develop technology to help the HCI overall round trip achieve the sub-millisecond latency goal, which is seen as the next revolution of the “tactile internet”. After analysing the latency model it is identified that the major source of delay is coming from piezo haptic driver block. This led to a detailed analysis of piezo haptic driver architectures and to proposing three novel architectures for such drivers. The proposed solutions have been modelled and simulated in MATLAB and MULTISIM and, following satisfactory model/simulation results, the PCB design has been implemented, manufactured and tested. The test results show a reduction of latency in the proposed novel piezo haptic drivers when compared to the current commercially available state-of-the-arts. Moreover, the custom piezo haptic drivers designed and described in this thesis surpass the capabilities of commercially available drivers in terms of the amplitude range, frequency range and shape of the output waveform, which is an essential feature for the creation of different tactile perceptions/effects and to ensure compatibility with a wide range of piezo actuators. In addition, the small footprint and low latency along with static power mode (temporary shutdown of power to the components while not in use) make it ideal for battery-powered wearable devices. The developed ultra-low latency piezo haptic driver could play a key role, for instance, in real-time teleoperation (especially in telerobotic operation) and in enhancing immersive experience in AR/VR applications, and presents a significant contribution towards achieving the overall round trip 1-millisecond latency goal for the tactile internet. Future studies will explore the development of the technology into an integrated circuit with low-power multi-piezo actuation capability and the integration of the technology as part of the next generation of the Tyndall HCI data glove, a tactile enabled wearable hand motion-tracking device.

Grantor dc:publisher

University College Cork

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Kundu, Souvik

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• O'Flynn, Brendan
• Torres Sanchez, Jeronimo Javier
• Menolotto, Matteo
• Walsh, Michael

• Tactile internet
• Ultra low latency
• Haptic feedback
• Piezo haptic driver
• Piezo driver architecture
• Industry 4.0
• Wearable haptic devices
• Smart gloves

Statement dc:rights

• © 2021, Souvik Kundu.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10468/12450

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:cora.ucc.ie:10468/12450