Design and development of a braille display using micro actuators driven by ER suspension

Issue title: Selected Papers from the 14th International Symposium on Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics (ISEM 2009), Part II

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tsujita, Teppei^{a; *} | Kobayashi, Masanori^b | Nakano, Masami^a

Affiliations: [a] Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan | [b] Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Yamagata University, 4-3-16 Jonan, Yonezawa, Yamagata, 992-8510, Japan

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Teppei Tsujita, Tel.: +81 22 217 5879; Fax: +81 22 217 5879; E-mail: tsujita@ifc.ifs.tohoku.ac.jp

Abstract: ER suspension behaves like a Bingham fluid having yield stress, which can be rapidly changed in a reversible manner by applying electric field. By taking the advantage, Braille display using micro actuators driven by the suspension is developed. The micro actuators are fabricated by photolithography and allocated three dimensionally based on requirement specification which are determined experimentally. The system is integrated in small size and has high reliability since the valves consist of no moving components. In order to evaluate actuation of a micro actuator controlled by the valves, an experiment for displaying six tactile pins is performed.

Keywords: Electrorheological suspension, Micro ER valve, Non-Newtonian fluid, Micro machine

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2010-1298

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 33, no. 3-4, pp. 1661-1669, 2010