Abstract
A new method of a force display was proposed for presenting the sense of force to an elbow joint using a metal hydride (MH) actuator in order to apply it to artificial reality and tele-existence robots.
A force display made by the MH actuator was attached to a human's elbow joint and two psychophysical experiments were carried out to investigate whether or not the actuator is useful for the force display. First, the differential limen of the force sensation was measured in order to check whether or not the MH actuator can give the smooth force change to the human elbow. Next, the force sensation level produced using the MH actuator was compared with that produced when a real object was put on a forearm.
From the experimental results, the differential limen was found to be about 400 gf and the force sensation level difference between the sensation produced from the MH actuator and that from the real object was found to be smaller than the differential limen. It is ascertained that the MH actuator would be used for one of the force displays.
