Modelling the compression of a soft ellipsoid fingertip

Abstract

A purely mechanical-driven haptic feedback system was developed for amputees by [G. Shi et al., IEEE Trans. Haptics, 2020, 13, 204–210]. The fingertip ellipsoid modulates the compression force and transmits it to the feedback actuator when the finger interacts with an object. In this paper, the haptic feedback system has been modelled using finite deformation theory. For the ellipsoid fingertip, the compression behaviour between two rigid, flat surfaces has been studied and can predict the force-indentation trend and deformed shape of the membrane with the contact area. For the feedback actuator, the model for the flat membrane is developed with elastic theory, in which the deformation resulting in contact area increase has been studied. The model has been validated with experimental results, which consists of the fingertip ellipsoid membrane being compressed by a rigid surface and the feedback actuator being pressurised. The results of force-indentation, pressure-indentation and the deformation of the membrane from ellipsoid modelling lay within the experimental data and fit the non-linear trend well. The results from modelling the feedback actuator have the same trend as the experimental data in the force–pressure relationship. The haptic feedback system is consistent as a functional tactile sensor after validation. We present the modelling and validation of the proposed model for the mechanical driven haptic feedback system.