Tactile Sensing and\nRendering Patch with Dynamic and\nStatic Sensing and Haptic Feedback for Immersive Communication

Wearable human–machine interface (HMI) with bidirectional\nand multimodal tactile information exchange is of paramount importance\nin teleoperation by providing more intuitive data interpretation and\ndelivery of tactilely related signals. However, the current sensing\nand feedback devices still lack enough integration and modalities.\nHere, we present a Tactile Sensing and Rendering Patch (TSRP) that\nis made of a customized expandable array which consists of a piezoelectric\nsensing and feedback unit fused with an elastomeric triboelectric\nmultidimensional sensor and its inner pneumatic feedback structure.\nThe primary functional unit of TSRP is mainly featured with a soft\nsilicone substrate with compact multilayer structure integrating static\nand dynamic multidimensional tactile sensing capabilities, which synergistically\nleverage both triboelectric and piezoelectric effects. Additionally,\nbased on the air chamber created by the triboelectric sensor and the\nconverse piezoelectric effect, it provides pneumatic and vibrational\nhaptic feedback simultaneously for both static and dynamic perception\nregeneration. With the aid of the other variants of this unit, the\narray shaped TSRP is capable of simulating different terrains, geometries,\nsliding, collisions, and other critical interactive events during\nteleoperation via skin perception. Moreover, immediate manipulation\ncan be done on TSRP through the tactile sensors. The preliminary demonstration\nof TSRP interface with a completed control module in robotic teleoperation\nis provided, which shows the feasibility of assisting certain tasks\nin a complex environment by direct tactile communication. The proposed\ndevice offers a potential method of enabling bidirectional tactile\ncommunication with enriched key information for improving interaction\nefficiency in the fields of robot teleoperation and training.