Force control module and wearable device including the same

Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to a force control module (100) and a wearable device (200) comprising the force control module. The force control module (100) has a stationary part (110), a rotating part (120) aligned with the stationary part (110) and rotatable about an axis of rotation of the stationary part (110), and an elastomeric part (130) located within the stationary part (110) or the rotating part (120). The elastomeric member (130) is separated from the inner surface (112 / 122) of the fixed member (110) or the rotating member (120) and is connected to the rotating member (120). The elastomeric member (130) is actuatable towards the inner surface (112 / 122) to generate a variable actuation force on the inner surface (112 / 122) for resisting rotation of the rotating member (120).

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to Singapore Patent Application No. 10202205047P filed on May 13, 2022, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure generally relates to a force control module and a wearable device including the force control module. More specifically, the present disclosure describes various embodiments of a force control module for generating a variable actuation force, and a wearable device for generating tactile feedback from the variable actuation force. Background Art

[0004] Various wearable devices such as gloves have been developed for applications such as gaming and virtual reality. However, there are challenges in designing wearable devices that provide users with realistic and immersive experiences, such as providing tactile feedback to users engaging in these applications. For example, patent WO2018212971 describes a tactile feedback glove used as a virtual reality human-machine interface, patent US20210059888 describes an exoskeleton glove that enables a user to interact with virtual objects, and patent US20210026447 describes a hand exoskeleton force feedback system for application in virtual reality.

[0005] Therefore, in order to address some of these challenges, there is a need to provide an improved wearable device. Summary of the invention

[0006] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a force control module is provided, comprising:

[0007] at least one fixing member;

[0008] at least one rotating component aligned with the fixed component and rotatable about an axis of rotation of the fixed component; and

[0009] an elastomeric member disposed in one of the fixed member and the rotating member and separated from an inner surface of one of the fixed member and the rotating member, the elastomeric member being connected to the rotating member so that the elastomeric member can rotate around the rotation axis through the rotating member,

[0010] The elastic member is capable of being actuated toward the inner surface to generate a variable actuation force on the inner surface, wherein the variable actuation force is used to resist rotation of the rotating member.

[0011] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a wearable device is provided, comprising:

[0012] a glove comprising a plurality of finger portions;

[0013] a plurality of force control modules, each force control module being connected to a corresponding one of the finger parts and comprising:

[0014] at least one fixing member;

[0015] at least one rotating member aligned with the fixed member and rotatable about an axis of rotation of the fixed member;

[0016] an elastomeric member disposed in one of the fixed member and the rotating member and separated from an inner surface of one of the fixed member and the rotating member, the elastomeric member being connected to the rotating member so that the elastomeric member can rotate around the rotation axis through the rotating member; and

[0017] a cable, wherein the cable is connected to the rotating member and the corresponding finger portion to rotate the rotating member in response to movement of the corresponding finger portion; and

[0018] a controller module configured to control the force control module to actuate the elastomeric member toward the inner surface to generate a variable actuation force on the inner surface, the variable actuation force being used to resist rotation of the elastomeric member;

[0019] wherein the resisted rotation of the rotating component in response to the movement of the finger portion generates tactile feedback in the finger portion.

[0020] Therefore, the present invention discloses a force control module and a wearable device including the force control module according to the present invention. The various features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments of the present invention, which are given by way of non-limiting examples and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figures 1A to 1E is a schematic diagram of a force control module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 2A to FIG. 2D This is a schematic diagram of the force control module when it is started.

[0023] FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D is a schematic diagram of various parameters of the force control module.

[0024] FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C is a further illustration of the force control module.

[0025] Figure 5is a schematic diagram of a wearable device including a force control module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram of the pneumatic system of the wearable device.

[0027] 7A to 7E is a schematic diagram of the experiment performed on the force control module.

[0028] FIG. 8A to FIG. 8C is a schematic diagram of another wearable device including a force control module.

[0029] FIG. 9A to FIG. 9J is a schematic diagram of the test performed on the wearable device.

[0030] FIG. 10A to FIG. 10H is a schematic diagram of various virtual reality applications using wearable devices.

[0031] Fig.11A and Fig. 11B is a schematic diagram of user research on wearable devices.

[0032] FIG. 12A to FIG. 12E is a diagram of another user study of wearable devices.

[0033] Fig.13 It is a schematic diagram of various applications of wearable devices. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] For the purpose of brevity and clarity, according to the accompanying drawings, the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure is directed to a force control module and a wearable device including a force control module. Although the various aspects of the present disclosure will be described in conjunction with the embodiments provided herein, it should be understood that they are not intended to limit the present disclosure to these embodiments. On the contrary, the present disclosure is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents of the embodiments described herein, which are all included within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In addition, in the following detailed description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, a person of ordinary skill in the art (i.e., a technician) will recognize that the present disclosure can be implemented without specific details, and / or have multiple details resulting from a combination of aspects of a particular embodiment. In many cases, well-known systems, methods, procedures, and components are not described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0035] In embodiments of the present disclosure, the depiction of a given element in a particular figure, or consideration or use of a particular element number, or reference thereto in corresponding descriptive material may encompass the same, equivalent, or similar elements or element numbers identified in another figure or descriptive material associated therewith.

[0036] References to "one embodiment / example", "another embodiment / example", "some embodiments / examples", "some other embodiments / examples", etc. indicate that the embodiment / example described thus may include a particular feature, structure, characteristic, attribute, element, or limitation, but not every embodiment / example must include the particular feature, structure, characteristic, attribute, element, or limitation. Furthermore, repeated use of the phrase "in one embodiment / example" or "in another embodiment / example" does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment / example.

[0037] The terms "comprise", "include", "have", etc. do not exclude the presence of other features / elements / steps than those listed in the embodiments. Listing certain features / elements / steps in different embodiments does not mean that the combination of these features / elements / steps cannot be used in one embodiment.

[0038] As used herein, the terms "one" and "an" are defined as one or more than one. Unless otherwise indicated, " / " is used in the accompanying drawings or related texts and is understood to represent "and / or". According to known mathematical definitions, the term "set" is defined as a non-empty finite organization of an element, which mathematically exhibits a cardinality of at least 1 (for example, the set defined herein can correspond to a unit, a single element or a single element set or a multi-element set). The narration of a specific numerical value or a numerical range is understood herein to include or be a narration of an approximate numerical value or a numerical range. The terms "first", "second", etc. are only used as labels or identifiers, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their associated terms.

[0039] Force Control Module

[0040] In a representative or exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, there are Figures 1A to 1E The force control module 100 shown. The force control module 100 includes a set or at least one fixed component 110 and a set or at least one rotating component 120, which is aligned with the fixed component 110 and can rotate around the rotation axis of the fixed component 110. The force control module 100 also includes an elastomeric component 130 arranged in one of the fixed component 110 and the rotating component 120. In addition, the elastomeric component 130 is separated from the inner surface 112 / 122 of one of the fixed component 110 and the rotating component 120. The elastomeric component 130 is connected to the rotating component 120 so that the elastomeric component 130 can be rotated by the rotating component 120 around the rotation axis. The elastomeric component 130 can be actuated toward the inner surface 112 / 122 to generate a variable actuation force on the inner surface 112 / 122, and the variable actuation force is used to resist the rotation of the rotating component 120.

[0041] More specifically, in the non-actuated state, the elastomeric member 130 is separated from the inner surface 112 / 122 by the gap 114 / 124 and can be freely rotated by the rotating member 120. When the elastomeric member 130 is actuated toward the inner surface 112 / 122, the elastomeric member 130 is compressed and applies an actuation force to the inner surface 112 / 122. The elastomeric member 130 is made of, for example, rubber or silicone (e.g., Ecoflex TM ) of an elastomeric material. The actuation force is variable and depends on the magnitude of the actuation force and, therefore, the amount of compression against the inner surface 112 / 122. The variable actuation force in turn results in a variable friction force between the elastomeric member 130 and the inner surface 112 / 122, wherein the variable friction force resists the rotation of the rotating member 120 due to its connection to the elastomeric member 130.

[0042] In some embodiments, the elastomeric member 130 may expand toward the inner surface 112 / 122. For example, the elastomeric member 130 may have a Figure 1B and Figure 1D The force control module 100 includes a set of inlets 140 for inflating the elastomeric member 130. When the elastomeric member 130 is inflated by the pressurized fluid 132 (eg, compressed air), the elastomeric member 130 expands and crosses the gap 114 / 124 and subsequently presses against the inner surface 112 / 122.

[0043] In such Figure 1A and Figure 1B In some embodiments shown, the force control module 100 includes a single rotating component 120 arranged between two fixed components 110. More specifically, the force control module 100 includes a first fixed component 110a and a second fixed component 110b arranged on both sides of the rotating component 120. Optionally, the force control module 100 includes a single rotating component 120 and a single fixed component 110, wherein the rotating component 120 is connected to the fixed component 110 so that the rotating component 120 can rotate around the rotation axis. The elastomeric component 130 is arranged in the rotating component 120 and is separated from the inner surface 122 of the rotating component 120. There is a gap 124 between the elastomeric component 130 and the inner surface 122. The elastomeric component 130 can expand toward the inner surface 122 to cross the gap 124 and then press against the inner surface 122. The inlet 140 can be arranged on one or both of the first fixed component 110a and the second fixed component 110b.

[0044] In such Figure 1C to Figure 1EIn some embodiments shown, the force control module 100 includes a first rotating component 120a and a second rotating component 120b arranged on both sides of the fixed component 110. The first rotating component 120a and the second rotating component 120b can rotate in series around the rotation axis. Optionally, the force control module 100 includes a single rotating component 120 arranged on one side of the fixed component 110. The elastomeric component 130 is arranged in the fixed component 110 and is separated from the inner surface 112 of the fixed component 110. There is a gap 114 between the elastomeric component 130 and the inner surface 112. The elastomeric component 130 can expand toward the inner surface 112 to cross the gap 114 and then press against the inner surface 112. The inlet 140 can be arranged on one or both of the first rotating component 120a and the second rotating component 120b.

[0045] Further FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C As shown in FIG. 1 , the elastic member 130 is actuated and pressed against the inner surface 112, and an actuation force is generated on the inner surface 112. When the rotating member 120 rotates at a rotation angle θ under the resistance of the actuated elastic member 130, the rotating member 120 moves the corresponding side of the actuated elastic member 130 relative to the middle of the elastic member 130, and the middle of the elastic member 130 is pressed against the inner surface 112. More specifically, in the case of FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C In the illustrated embodiment, the first rotating member 120a and the second rotating member 120b are respectively connected to the two sides of the actuated elastomeric member 130, and rotate in series at a rotation angle θ and move the corresponding sides of the actuated elastomeric member 130, as shown by reference line 152. The middle portion of the elastomeric member 130 is pressed against the inner surface 112, and the contact area therebetween is indicated by reference line 154. The actuated elastomeric member 130 resists the rotation of the rotating member 120 like the torsion spring 150. It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. Figure 2D As shown, if the amount of actuation of the elastomeric member 130 is increased (eg, by pumping more pressurized fluid 132 into the elastomeric member 130 to increase the inflation pressure), the contact area with the inner surface 112 will increase.

[0046] In addition, if FIG. 3A to FIG. 3DAs shown, a torque T1 is applied to each rotating component 120 to rotate it at a rotation angle θ and move the corresponding side of the actuated elastomeric component 130. The contact area remains stationary, and the side (non-contact area) of the elastomeric component 130 has been moved by the rotation of the corresponding rotating component 120, which causes shear stress in the non-contact area and contributes to the torque T1. The torque T1 can be derived using equations 1 to 4, where k represents the rotational stiffness, G represents the shear modulus, and J represents the moment of inertia of the combined structure of the corresponding rotating component 120 and the actuated elastomeric component 130. l1 represents the length of the corresponding side of the actuated elastomeric component 130 (i.e., the non-contact area), which has been moved by the corresponding rotating component 120. Because the torque T1 is applied to the first rotating component 120a and the second rotating component 120b, the total torque T applied to the rotating component 120 is the sum of the individual torques T1.

[0047] T1=kθ (1)

[0048]

[0049] The total torque T can also be derived using Equation 5, where F represents the resultant force applied to the rotating member 120 and r represents the radius from the axis of rotation to the force F. The rotation angle θ can be derived using Equation 6, where x represents the arc length moved by each respective side of the actuated elastomeric member 130. The length of each respective side l1 can be derived using Equation 7, where l0 represents the total length of the elastomeric member 130 and l represents the length of the middle portion of the elastomeric member 130 actuated against the inner surface 112.

[0050] T=Fr (5)

[0051]

[0052] From the above equations, the force F can be derived as shown in Equation 8 and Equation 9.

[0053]

[0054] It is noteworthy that the applied force F is proportional to the arc length x through the stiffness parameter S, which is equivalent to the linear stiffness of the combined structure of the rotating component 120 and the actuated elastomeric component 130. The length l is the only parameter that changes the stiffness parameter S, and the length l is positively correlated with the actuation force of the elastomeric component 130 on the inner surface 112. It is noteworthy that due to the higher actuation force, such as Figure 2DThe length l is longer in the illustrated embodiment. Thus, by varying the actuation force (e.g., by varying the inflation pressure in the elastomeric member 130), the stiffness parameter S, and therefore the applied force F, can be varied accordingly, thereby providing a variable resistance to rotation of the rotating member 120. The variable actuation force and resistance can be used to generate force feedback from the force control module 100, as further described below.

[0055] In such FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C In some embodiments shown, the force control module 100 may further include a cable 160 connected to the rotating component 120 for rotating the rotating component 120. For example, the cable 160 (eg, including A cable (wire) may be connected to the first rotating member 120a at one end of the cable 160, and the other end of the cable 160 may be connected to an object. The object may be moved to pull the first rotating member 120a and rotate the rotating member 120 forward and backward.

[0056] The force control module 100 may also include an elastic member 170 connected to the fixed component 110 and the rotating component 120, and the elastic member 170 is configured to bias the rotating component 120 to an initial position before the rotating component 120 rotates. For example, one end of the elastic member 170 may be coupled to the base 116 of the fixed component 110, and the other end of the elastic member 170 may be coupled to the second rotating component 120b. The elastic member 170 may include a rotation sensor for measuring the rotation angle. In one embodiment, the elastic member 170 includes a thin polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) tube embedded with a sensing material such as eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn). The elastic member 170 may have an initial length of 11 mm and an outer diameter of 0.56 mm.

[0057] When the rotating component 120 rotates (e.g., when the cable 160 is under tension), the elastic member 170 stretches, and the rotation sensor can measure the rotation angle (i.e., θ). When the cable 160 relaxes, the stretched elastic member 170 returns to its original state and rotates the rotating component 120 back to the original position. It should be understood that the cable 160 and the elastic member 170 can be connected to the same or different rotating components 120.

[0058] The force control module 100 may also include a set of bushings 180 and a set of bushing supports 182. The bushings 180 are connected to the bushing supports 182, and the rotating component 120 may rotate within the bushings 180. Since the rotating component 120 may be 3D printed using a resin material, the high sliding friction coefficient of the resin material may reduce the rotation efficiency of the rotating component 120. The bushings 180 made of a smooth material such as copper help reduce the rotation friction of the rotating component 120.

[0059] Various aspects of the force control module 100 are incorporated herein as follows: Figure 1C to Figure 1E It should be understood that these aspects are similarly applicable to Figure 1A and Figure 1B The embodiment shown.

[0060] The force control module 100 can be connected to one or more other force control modules 100 and / or other actuators (e.g., soft actuators) to form a force control device. For example, the force control module 100 and / or the actuators can be fluidly connected via a fluid conduit (e.g., a set of inlets 140 and a set of outlets 142). The force control module 100 can be connected to a common pressure source with other fluid components such as valves to selectively control actuation of the force control module 100, as described below for the wearable device 200. Alternatively, the force control modules 100 can be directly connected to each other without valves so that the force control modules 100 can be actuated simultaneously.

[0061] Wearable devices 200

[0062] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, there are Figure 5 Wearable device 200 shown. Wearable device 200 includes a glove 210 having a plurality of finger portions 220. For example, glove 210 is a hand glove that can be worn on a user's hand, and glove 210 includes five finger portions 220 for the user's fingers (including a thumb). Glove 210 may include one or more straps or belts 212 for securing wearable device 200 on the user's hand. In another example, glove 210 is a foot glove that can be worn on a user's foot, wherein five finger portions 220 are for the user's toes. Glove 210 may be made of a fabric material.

[0063] The wearable device 200 also includes a plurality of force control modules 100 as described above. Each force control module 100 has a size of 23 mm×26 mm×70 mm and weighs about 14 g. Each force control module 100 is connected to a corresponding one of the finger portions 220 and includes a fixed component 110, a rotating component 120, an elastomeric component 130, and a cable 160. More specifically, in response to the movement of the corresponding finger portion 220, the cable 160 of each force control module 100 is connected to the corresponding rotating component 120 and the corresponding finger portion 220 to rotate the corresponding rotating component 120. The wearable device 200 may include a set of cable guides 222 arranged on each finger portion 220 (e.g., by sewing on the fabric material of the glove 210), wherein the cable guides 222 guide the cables 160 connected to the corresponding finger portion 220.

[0064] Optionally, each finger portion 220 may be connected to multiple force control modules 100. The force control modules 100 of each finger portion 220 may share the same fluid path so that they may be inflated and deflated simultaneously with the same inflation pressure.

[0065] The wearable device 200 further includes a controller module 230 configured to control the force control module 100 to actuate the elastomeric member 130 toward the inner surface 112 / 122, thereby generating a variable actuation force on the inner surface 112 / 122, the variable actuation force being used to resist the rotation of the rotating member 120. In response to the movement of the finger portion 220, the resistance to rotation of the rotating member 120 generates tactile feedback in the finger portion 220. For example, when the user's finger moves the finger portion 220, such as by bending / extending the finger, to pull the cable 160 and rotate the rotating member 120, the user's finger will feel tactile feedback from the hardness of the rotating member 120 because the rotation is resisted by the actuation force.

[0066] In some embodiments, the wearable device 200 includes a pneumatic system 300 connected to the force control module 100 and controllable by the controller module 230 for expanding the elastomeric member 130 to engage with the inner surface 112 / 122. FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C As shown, the pneumatic system 300 includes a plurality of pneumatic modules 310. Each pneumatic module 310 is connected to a corresponding one of the force control modules 100 for inflating the corresponding elastomeric member 130. More specifically, the controller module 230 is configured to control the flow of pressurized fluid 132 from the pneumatic module 310 to the force control module 100 and adjust the inflation pressure in the elastomeric member 130, thereby adjusting the actuation force and tactile feedback.

[0067] The pneumatic system 300 includes a manifold 320 and a pump 330 for delivering the pressurized fluid 132 to the force control module 100. The manifold 320 includes a chamber 322 for storing the pressurized fluid 132 and delivering the pressurized fluid 132 from the chamber 322 to the pneumatic module 310 and subsequently to the force control module 100. The pneumatic system 300 includes a main valve 340 (e.g., a solenoid valve) for regulating the communication of the pressurized fluid 132 from the pump 330 to the chamber 322. The pneumatic system 300 includes a main pressure sensor 350 for measuring the pressure in the chamber 322, for example, to determine whether the pressurized fluid 132 in the chamber 322 has reached a desired target pressure.

[0068] Each pneumatic module 310 includes a set of connectors 312 for fluidly connecting the corresponding pneumatic module 310 to the chamber 322 to receive the pressurized fluid 132. For example, the connector 312 of each pneumatic module 310 is fluidly connected to the chamber 322. Each pneumatic module 310 includes an inlet valve 342 and an outlet valve 344 (e.g., solenoid valves) for regulating the communication of the pressurized fluid 132 from the chamber 322 to the corresponding pneumatic module 310 and subsequently to the corresponding force control module 100. Therefore, the inlet valve 342 and the outlet valve 344 can be controlled to selectively expand and contract the elastomeric member 130 of the corresponding force control module 100. Each pneumatic module 310 includes a secondary pressure sensor 352 for measuring the pressure in the corresponding pneumatic module 310, which corresponds to the inflation pressure in the corresponding elastomeric member 130.

[0069] The chamber 322 operates as a pressure source for delivering the pressurized fluid 132 to the pneumatic module 310. The chamber 322 may have an internal volume of approximately 30 ml. In addition, the chamber 322 is configured to maintain a predetermined pressure therein, such as 70 kPa. When the main pressure sensor 350 measures that the pressure in the chamber 322 is lower than the predetermined pressure, the pump 330 and the main valve 340 will be opened to deliver the pressurized fluid 132 to the chamber 322 until the chamber 322 reaches the predetermined pressure.

[0070] The expansion of the elastomeric member 130 in the force control module 100 can be adjusted by precisely controlling the opening and closing of the inlet valve 342 and the outlet valve 344 of the pneumatic module 310 (the adjustment is typically in the order of microseconds). The inlet valve 342 and the outlet valve 344 are calibrated to precisely control the inflation pressure, thereby controlling the tactile feedback. The tactile feedback is also energy efficient because the inlet valve 342 and the outlet valve 344 only work when the tactile information changes (e.g., at the point in time when the virtual object is grasped or released). When the tactile information does not change (e.g., when the same virtual object is grasped), the inlet valve 342 and the outlet valve 344 remain closed to maintain the pressurized air in the force control module 100 and maintain the tactile feedback without consuming any power.

[0071] The wearable device 200 may further include a tracking device 240 for tracking the movement of the glove 210. For example, the tracking device 240 is an HTC One with a pair of cameras. Tracker. When the glove 210 is worn on, for example, a user's hand and the user moves the glove 210, the tracking device 240 tracks the movement of the glove 210. In addition, the rotation sensor in the elastic member 170 of the force control module 100 can track the movement of the user's fingers based on the measured rotation angle. More specifically, the tracking device 240 tracks the position and direction of the user's palm in six degrees of freedom, and the controller module 230 tracks the position and direction of the user's fingers (e.g., the position of the finger joints) in five degrees of freedom through the rotation sensors in the five force control modules 100. Data points of 11 degrees of freedom can be obtained from the controller module 230 and the tracking device 240 together.

[0072] The controller module 230 and the tracking device 240 are configured to communicate with a computer system. The controller module 230 and the tracking device 240 can communicate with the computer system through known communication protocols (including wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth). The computer system can have a virtual environment executed therein, such as a game program or a virtual reality application. The user can use the wearable device 200 to interact with the virtual environment, such as controlling a digital representation of the user's hand in a game or other virtual task. The controller module 230 and the tracking device 240 transmit data points representing eleven degrees of freedom of the user's hand to the computer system, such as the movement of the user's hand wearing the glove 210 is converted into a virtual movement represented by the digital representation. Therefore, the controller module 230 and the tracking device 240 are configured to transmit motion data to the computer system based on the movement of the finger portion 220.

[0073] When the user interacts with the virtual environment, the user may attempt to control the digital representation of the user's hand to handle or pick up a virtual object. Object stiffness data and collision data are obtained and processed by the computer system and transmitted to the wearable device 200 as a tactile signal. The controller module 230 receives the tactile signal and controls the actuation of the elastic body component 130 in the force control module 100 based on the tactile signal. More specifically, the controller module 230 activates the pneumatic system 300 based on the tactile signal to inflate the elastic body component 130 to the desired inflation pressure. When the digital representation of the user's hand is handling or picking up a virtual object, the user's fingers will feel realistic tactile feedback, just like the user's hand is touching a real object, thereby improving the user's immersive experience. The tactile signal and tactile feedback felt by the user will vary depending on the texture and / or rigidity of the virtual object (e.g., whether the virtual object is soft or hard).

[0074] In addition, when the haptic signal changes (e.g., at the time point of grasping or releasing the virtual object), the controller module 230 adjusts the inflation pressure. When the haptic signal does not change (e.g., when the virtual object is continuously grasped), the same inflation pressure is maintained in the force control module 100, and the haptic feedback remains constant while consuming no power or minimal power, thereby improving overall energy efficiency.

[0075] The controller module 230 may include a printed circuit board and one or more microcontroller units embedded in the printed circuit board. In some embodiments, the controller module 230 includes a main microcontroller unit and a secondary microcontroller unit. The main microcontroller unit is configured to receive sensor data from the rotation sensor in the force control module 100. The main microcontroller unit is also configured to receive pressure data from the main pressure sensor 350 and five auxiliary pressure sensors 352. The main microcontroller unit can receive motion and pressure data at a predetermined frequency (such as 50Hz). The main microcontroller unit is also configured to track the movement of the user's finger based on the motion data. The main microcontroller unit is also configured to maintain the pressure of the pressurized fluid 132 in the chamber 322 at a predetermined pressure. The main microcontroller unit communicates with the computer system for sending motion data and receiving tactile signals.

[0076] After receiving the tactile signal, the primary microcontroller unit transmits the tactile signal to the secondary microcontroller unit. For example, the primary microcontroller unit and the secondary microcontroller unit can communicate via a communication protocol such as UART. The secondary microcontroller unit is configured to precisely control the inlet valve 342 and the outlet valve 344 of the pneumatic module 310 in microseconds, thereby ensuring rapid and consistent inflation of the elastomeric component 130 in the force control module 100.

[0077] Several experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the force control module 100 with respect to force distribution and actuation distribution for haptic feedback.

[0078] like Fig. 7A As shown, the mechanical tester 400 is used to evaluate the force distribution of tactile feedback generated by the force control module 100. The force control module 100 is clamped while the mechanical tester 400 pulls the cable 160 and measures the tension in the cable 160. Due to the biasing force of the elastic member 170, the cable 160 experiences a small resistance of up to 0.3N when the elastomeric component 130 is not actuated. The biasing force of the elastic member 170 should be kept as small as possible to minimize its effect on the tactile feedback (e.g., by using a softer / more elastic material). The elastomeric component 130 of the force control module 100 is actuated to pressures ranging from 10 kPa to 100 kPa. The results of the maximum actuation force and maximum stiffness at these actuation pressures are shown in FIG. Figure 7B and Figure 7C shown.

[0079] It is observed that the maximum actuation force and the maximum stiffness increase with increasing actuation pressure. At an actuation pressure of 10 kPa, the maximum actuation force is 3.84 N and the maximum stiffness is 0.75 N / mm. At an actuation pressure of 60 kPa, the maximum actuation force is 17.13 N and the maximum stiffness is 1.92 N / mm. At an actuation pressure of 100 kPa, the maximum actuation force is 22.41 N and the maximum stiffness is 2.39 N / mm. Therefore, for a wearable device 200 having five force control modules 100, the complete tactile feedback of the user's hand can have a maximum stiffness of 9.6 N / mm and a maximum actuation force of 85.65 N at an actuation pressure of 60 kPa.

[0080] The actuation profile of the tactile feedback was evaluated to determine the actuation delay of the pneumatic system 300, thereby inflating the force control module 100 to the target pressure and investigating the consistency of the actuation pressure in the force control module 100 after repeated actuation. The force control module 100 was inflated to six target pressures (from 10 kPa to 60 kPa in 10 kPa increments), and the actuation delay to reach the corresponding target pressure was measured. The actuation pressure was also measured during repeated actuation. The results are shown in FIG. Fig.7D shown.

[0081] Haptic feedback occurs in response to the user's real-time interaction with the virtual environment. There is usually a visual-tactile time delay between the user seeing an event in the virtual environment and feeling the tactile feedback from the same event. This visual-tactile time delay should be minimized as low as possible to provide the user with an immersive experience. Some studies have shown that the threshold for users to perceive visual events and tactile feedback as asynchronous is around 45ms. Fig.7D In the experimental results shown, it is found that the actuation delay range of the force control module 100 to reach the target pressure of 10 kPa to 60 kPa and generate tactile feedback is 14 ms to 21 ms. Therefore, the force control module 100 can provide low-latency tactile feedback to the user.

[0082] To evaluate the actuation pressure consistency in the force control module 100, the force control module 100 was subjected to repeated actuation tests at each of six target pressures from 10 kPa to 60 kPa. For each target pressure, the actuation pressure was measured, and the target and measured actuation pressures were plotted as Fig. 7E As shown. The height of each vertical bar represents the average of the measured actuation pressures, and the error bars represent the standard deviation. It can be seen that the measured actuation pressures are close to the target pressures with a small error, indicating consistent actuation capability and tactile feedback.

[0083] Wearable Devices 500

[0084] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, there are Fig. 8A The wearable device 500 shown. The wearable device 500 includes a glove 510 having a plurality of finger portions 520. The wearable device 500 also includes a plurality of force control modules 100 as described above. One or more force control modules 100 are connected to a corresponding one of the finger portions 520. The wearable device 500 also includes a controller module 530, which is configured to control the force control module 100. The wearable device 200 also includes a pneumatic system 300 connected to the force control module 100 and controllable by the controller module 530. It should be understood that various aspects of the wearable device 200 described above are also applicable to the wearable device 500.

[0085] Further Figure 8B and Figure 8C As shown, the wearable device 500 further includes a plurality of distal force control modules 600. Each distal force control module 600 is connected to the distal end of a corresponding one of the finger portions 520. The distal force control module 600 includes a first elastomeric member 610 and a second elastomeric member 620, which are bonded together, for example, by an adhesive or gluing. The first elastomeric member 610 and the second elastomeric member 620 have different elastic moduli. For example, the first elastomeric member 610 has a diameter of 9 mm, a thickness of 1.5 mm, and is made of Ecoflex TM For example, the second elastomer member 620 has a diameter of 9 mm and a thickness of 1.5 mm and is made of PDMS material. TM Stiffer, so during inflation, the first elastomeric member 610 is able to expand more than the second elastomeric member 620.

[0086] The distal force control module 600 also includes a fluid member 630 for expanding the first elastomeric member 610 and the second elastomeric member 620. The fluid member 630 is fluidly connected to the pneumatic system 300. The controller module 530 is configured to control the distal force control module 600, and in particular to control the pneumatic system 300 to expand the elastomeric members 610, 620. The distal force control module 600 may include a cover layer 640 for connection to the distal portion 520. For example, the cover layer 640 is a thin fabric sheet sewn to the glove 510.

[0087] When the distal force control module 600 expands, the first elastomeric member 610 expands in a retracting direction perpendicular to the distal end of the finger portion 520. Due to the difference in elastic modulus, the second elastomeric member 620 remains rigid or expands to a lesser extent. By controlling the inflation pressure and frequency, the skin indentation can be controlled, thereby generating variable forces and vibrations on the user's fingertips at the distal end of the finger portion 520.

[0088] The force control module 100 (also called "PneuClutch") is configured to deliver kinesthetic feedback, while the distal force control module 600 (also called "PneuIndenter") is configured to deliver cutaneous feedback through skin indentation. Kinesthetic and cutaneous sensations are two types of tactile sensations received by mechanoreceptors in response to mechanical stimuli to allow people to feel the shape, softness, texture, and weight of objects and manipulate them steadily and precisely in daily life.

[0089] Several tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the wearable device 500 including the force control module 100 and the remote force control module 600 .

[0090] When the cable 160 of the force control module 100 is pulled (actuation stroke), the resistance of the rotation sensor is positively correlated with the stroke, such as Fig.9A The resistance range is 1.24Ω to 4.92Ω with negligible hysteresis and good linearity to indicate a stable rotation detection capability.

[0091] Even when the haptic sense is not applied, the cable 160 is subjected to the actuation force due to the elasticity of the elastic member 170. Fig. 9B As shown, since the elastic member 160 is thin and highly stretchable, the actuation force varies smoothly. The maximum resistance is about 0.32N, which is almost imperceptible to the user.

[0092] The force control module 100 is actuated to a pressure of 30 kPa. Fig. 9C As shown, at a stroke of 25 mm, the actuation force increases to a maximum of 11.7 N. Under five loading cycles with a stroke of 10 mm, significant hysteresis is observed in the first loading cycle, while the force curves in the remaining loading cycles become consistent with smaller hysteresis. This is because in the first loading cycle, as the stroke increases, the contact area of ​​the elastomeric component 130 gradually slides, which prevents the rotating component 120 from rotating back to the initial position during unloading. No further sliding was observed in subsequent loading cycles of the same stroke. The force feedback stiffness is defined as the slope of the linear line fit of the force data points during loading after the first loading cycle, which is approximately 1.25 N / mm for an actuation pressure of 30 kPa.

[0093] The force control module 100 is driven to a pressure from 10 kPa to 100 kPa in 10 kPa increments. Fig.9DAs shown, the maximum actuation force increases from 3.65N to 22.41N with increasing actuation pressure. The stiffness ranges from 0.78N / mm to 2.39N / mm to demonstrate variable stiffness capability by adjusting the actuation pressure. The error bars are based on the standard deviation of three force control modules 100, and three replicate tests were performed for each force control module 100. There is consistent performance across different force control modules 100 and tests, demonstrating reliable force feedback to the finger.

[0094] The remote force control module 600 is actuated to pressures from 10 kPa to 100 kPa in increments of 10 kPa. Fig.9E As shown, as the actuation pressure increases, the maximum actuation force increases from 0.11 N to 3.23 N, thereby providing variable force feedback at the fingertip. Fig.9E The inset in FIG. 6 shows the force measured over time at an actuation pressure of 30 kPa. The remote force control module 600 is able to respond quickly to changes in actuation pressure.

[0095] The remote force control module 600 is actuated at a frequency of 10 Hz to 170 Hz. Fig.9F As shown, the difference between the peak force and the valley force decreases as the actuation frequency increases because the compressed air is delivered to and exhausted from the remote force control module 600 in a shorter time. When the driving frequency is higher than 160 Hz, there is not enough time to exhaust the air. There is a larger error bar at 170 Hz, indicating that the fingertip feedback is less reliable. Therefore, the remote force control module 600 can provide stable tactile feedback at the fingertips at an actuation frequency of up to 160 Hz. Fig.9F The inset in shows a consistent force feedback curve at 100 Hz.

[0096] Respectively Figure 9G and Figure 9H As shown, the haptic on / off delays of the force control module 100 and the remote force control module 600 are measured. Regardless of the target pressure, the force control module 100 takes approximately 18 ms to be activated, but takes more time to release, ranging from 38.8 ms to 99.4 ms as the target pressure increases. The haptic on delay of the remote force control module 600 is approximately 18.8 ms to 155.9 ms as the target pressure increases, while the haptic off delay is approximately 14.1 ms to 40.3 ms as the target pressure increases. The haptic on delay of the force control module 100 is shorter than that of the remote force control module 600 because the force control module 100 is closer to the pneumatic system 300 and has less pneumatic resistance. The haptic off delay of the remote force control module 600 is shorter than that of the force control module 600 because the indentation force at the fingertip accelerates the air discharge.

[0097] The force control module 100 and the remote force control module 600 were repeatedly tested for 1000 cycles at the same actuation pressure to evaluate the consistency of tactile feedback over time. Fig.9I and Figure 9J As shown, there is a consistent feedback force to demonstrate the long term reliability of the force control module 100 and the distal force control module 600 for motion sensing and skin feedback.

[0098] The wearable device 500 was also tested in some virtual reality applications to evaluate the multi-modal haptic feedback performance. Finger calibration is performed to achieve accurate and consistent finger tracking between different users. FIG. 10A to FIG. 10H Different virtual reality applications and corresponding feedback forces are shown.

[0099] Fig. 10A Grasping of large and small virtual objects is shown. The virtual objects are designed to be fairly rigid and are grasped with an actuation pressure of 50 kPa. When the virtual hand touches the virtual object, the user feels a contact sensation, which is skin feedback provided by the remote force control module 600. When the user grasps and holds the virtual object, kinesthetic feedback is felt from the force control module 100, and the skin feedback is limited to the surface of the virtual object.

[0100] Fig. 10B The manipulation of virtual objects with different hardnesses is shown, which is achieved by using three actuation pressures (10 kPa, 35 kPa, and 55 kPa) distributed between soft and hard objects. Fig. 10B The force distribution map in Figure 2 shows that the soft object provides softer skin feedback and is easier to squeeze with smaller actuation forces. In addition, it increases and decreases smoothly according to the user's squeezing force, producing a realistic touch feeling of the elastic object.

[0101] Fig. 10C A wearable device 500 is shown presenting skin feedback of a beating heart by controlling a driving frequency of 0.83 Hz and an actuation pressure of 20 kPa.

[0102] Fig. 10D A virtual reality application simulating raindrops falling on the user's fingertips is shown. This sensation is achieved by randomly activating the remote force control module for 600ms up to 100ms at an actuation frequency of 3Hz and random actuation pressures from 10kPa to 20kPa.

[0103] Fig.10E A virtual reality application is shown that simulates the feeling of touching a vibration motor by controlling the driving frequency of the remote force control module 600 of the index finger at 30 Hz.

[0104] Fig.10FA virtual balloon with an actuation pressure of 20 kPa is shown. When touching and squeezing the balloon, the user feels the contact and elasticity of the balloon. When the user squeezes hard, the balloon bursts and the haptic is released simultaneously to produce a real bursting sensation.

[0105] Figure 10G A virtual archery game is shown that allows users to feel the tension of a string as they shoot an arrow. The user first feels their index, middle, and ring fingers touching the string. Then, as the user flexes their fingers while pulling the string, they feel increasing tension. Once the target is aimed, the small fingers extend to fire the arrow, releasing the tactile sensation at the same time.

[0106] Fig. 10H A virtual button is shown that changes the actuation pressure according to the user's pressing of the button. When the index finger contacts the button, the corresponding force control module 100 and the distal force control module 600 are activated at an actuation pressure of 25 kPa. This allows the user to feel the contact and button resistance when pressing the button by bending the index finger. When the button is pressed, half of the air inside the force control module 100 and the distal force control module 600 is expelled, resulting in a sudden drop in motion sensation and skin feedback, which is similar to the feeling of a click. Then, when the user continues to extend the index finger to release the button, a corresponding decrease in force will be felt until the index finger completely leaves the button.

[0107] A user study was conducted to evaluate whether the wearable device 500 can effectively provide multimodal tactile feedback and whether tactile feedback improves the user experience in virtual reality applications. 19 participants (11 males and 8 females) were recruited, ranging in age from 21 to 41 years old. Two wearable devices 500 with gloves 510 of different sizes were prepared. Participants wore the appropriately sized wearable device 500 on their dominant hand and wore noise-canceling headphones playing white noise to block out sounds from the wearable device 500 and the environment that might affect their perception of tactile feedback. Participants then put on a VR headset to display a rendered virtual reality environment.

[0108] The first study evaluated the realism of tactile feedback. Participants experienced seven virtual reality scenarios (e.g. FIG. 10A to FIG. 10G )—no tactile (vision only), vibro-motor tactile (using an eccentric rotating mass vibro-motor and controlled by pulse width modulation), and multi-modal tactile (using wearable device 500). For example, Fig.11A Shows the game Figure 10G Participants in an archery game. A 7-point Likert scale was used to evaluate the user experience, with 1 being the least realistic and 7 being the most realistic.

[0109] like Fig. 11B As shown in the study, vibration feedback improved the realism experience compared to using vision alone, but multimodal haptics made the experience even more realistic. Fig. 10A In the grasping scenario, kinesthetic feedback constrained the participants’ fingers to the surface of the object, resulting in less penetration inside the virtual object and making the grasp more realistic (mean 5.68, standard deviation 0.75). Fig. 10B In the stiffness sensing scenario, the variable stiffness capability in the multi-modal condition realistically reproduced the different elasticities of the virtual object (mean value was 5.63 and standard deviation was 0.90), while in the vibration condition, the different stiffness was represented by the vibration amplitude with a lack of fidelity. Fig. 10C For the heartbeat scenario, most participants rated the multimodal condition as more realistic (mean 6.21, standard deviation 0.71), but 10.5% of participants preferred the vibration condition because the motor vibrated over a larger area, giving them the illusion of holding a large heart that vibrated as a whole.

[0110] Due to sharp and localized skin feedback, Fig. 10D The raindrop scene was rated as the most realistic scene in the multimodal condition. The multimodal rating (mean 6.87, standard deviation 0.37) was 83.4% higher than the vibration rating (mean 3.47, standard deviation 1.15). 47.3% of the participants rated the raindrop scene as their favorite because it felt realistic. Fig.10E In the engine scenario, 68.4% of the participants thought the multimodal condition was more realistic (mean 6.11, standard deviation 0.99) because the 30Hz force feedback made them feel like the engine rotors were continuously hitting their fingertips. Fig.10F In the balloon scene, the multimodal rating (mean 6.11, SD 0.88) was 66% higher than the vibration rating (mean 3.68, SD 1.34) because the kinesthetic feedback and quick response accurately reproduced the elasticity and popping feeling of the balloon. Figure 10G For the archery scenario, the feeling of string tension and arrow release from sensory feedback made the scenario more realistic in the multimodal condition (mean 6, standard deviation 0.94). In addition, 26.3% of the participants rated archery as their favorite scenario, which was the second most popular scenario.

[0111] The second study quantitatively evaluated the effectiveness of rendering soft and hard virtual objects by performing virtual ball classification under vibration and multimodal conditions. Fig. 12AAs shown in Figure 1, a set of visually identical virtual balls with random hardness were presented on a virtual table. The softest and hardest balls corresponded to actuation pressures of 10 kPa and 60 kPa, respectively. The actuation pressures of the other balls were assigned the same difference. Participants performed a 4-ball sorting, a 5-ball sorting, and a 6-ball sorting in succession. They were asked to complete each sorting within 2 minutes. Participants were then given a questionnaire to evaluate their tactile experience. Specifically, participants evaluated utility (was it useful?), consistency (was it reliable?), coordination (was it coordinated with the visual sense?), expressiveness (was there a distinction between the tactile objects?), immersion (was there a sense of engagement?), and timeliness (how timely was the tactile delivery?). A 7-point Likert scale was used to evaluate the user experience, with 1 being the most negative and 7 being the most positive.

[0112] like FIG. 12B to FIG. 12D As shown, it was found that the average time to complete the 4-ball classification was 83.6 seconds, with an average accuracy of 89.5%. 79.9% of the participants successfully classified all 4 balls correctly. The average time to complete the 5-ball classification was 107.3 seconds, with an average accuracy of 86.3%. The average time to complete the 6-ball classification was 131.9 seconds, with an average accuracy of 78.9%. When the number of balls increased, the time increased and the accuracy decreased because participants tended to take more time and make more errors on more balls of different hardness. Even for the 6-ball classification, the average accuracy remained high, indicating the ability to render multiple levels of stiffness for virtual objects.

[0113] like Fig.12E As shown, a paired t-test was performed to analyze the questionnaire results. It was observed that there were positive ratings for consistency (p=0.587) and timeliness (p=0.675), indicating that the wearable device 500 was reliable and fast to actuate compared to the ERM vibration motor. Both tactile feedback conditions were rated as useful, but the multimodal condition (mean 6.36, standard deviation 0.83) was significantly more useful than the vibration condition (mean 4.94, standard deviation 1.39) (p<0.001) because it provided high fidelity. The vibration condition (mean 4.21, standard deviation 1.93) was significantly less harmonious than the multimodal condition (mean 6.21, standard deviation 0.78) (p<0.001). Some participants commented that the vibration condition was inconsistent with their vision because they did not want the virtual ball to vibrate when touched. The multimodal condition (mean 6.21, SD 0.78) showed significantly more expressiveness (p < 0.001) because the wearable device 500 created richer tactile feedback using unique tactile sensing. The multimodal condition (mean 6.42, SD 0.769) also provided a more immersive VR user experience (p < 0.001).

[0114] User research shows that the wearable device 500 provides consistent and timely multi-modal tactile feedback and provides a more realistic sense of touch, which significantly improves the VR user experience. In addition, 78.9% of the participants commented that the weight of the wearable device 500 (about 283g) is acceptable, and some people commented that the weight is not noticeable when immersed in the VR scene.

[0115] Therefore, the wearable device 200, 500 can provide a virtual reality tactile glove that can deliver five-finger variable stiffness force feedback during manipulation of a virtual object. The wearable device 200, 500 can continuously monitor the movement of a single finger and generate variable stiffness tactile feedback when necessary to allow the user to touch and feel virtual objects from soft to hard. The wearable device 200, 500 provides the user with a natural and realistic sense of touch and an immersive experience in virtual reality.

[0116] The wearable device 200, 500 uses small, lightweight pneumatic components, which helps to form a lightweight and compact pneumatic system 300. In addition, the pneumatic system 300 delivers low actuation pressure so that the user can operate more safely. The wearable device 200, 500 provides timely and realistic multi-modal tactile feedback (including kinesthetic and skin sensation), which is achieved by lightweight components actuated by low pressure. When actuated, the force control module 100 and the remote force control module 600 can be maintained at the delivered pressure without consuming any power, thereby improving the overall energy efficiency. However, it should be understood that the wearable device 200, 500 can be modified to deliver higher actuation pressures, thereby increasing the maximum actuation force and maximum hardness. For example, the wearable device 200, 500 can be modified with different configurations and / or materials to deliver different ranges of actuation pressures to adapt to different applications. As emphasized in the various experiments and studies described above, the force control module 100 and the remote force control module 600 can provide low-latency tactile feedback to the user, making the wearable device 200, 500 suitable for applications in computer simulation environments (e.g., virtual reality and augmented reality). The experiments and studies show that the wearable device 200, 500 provides variable stiffness force feedback and fingertip force feedback to allow the user to manipulate various virtual objects and feel dynamic tactile changes, thereby enhancing the user experience.

[0117] In addition, the wearable device 200 can find applications in other fields, such as for training, rehabilitation, etc. For example, in medical education, meaningful information can be conveyed through touch, such as through palpation. The wearable device 200, 500 has the potential to enable the "physical" touch of virtual patients and the feeling of human tissue hardness during VR medical training. This helps to establish a decentralized virtual reality medical training platform where trainees can perform real training procedures remotely and communicate with instructors in real time. The wearable device 200, 500 can also be used for VR industrial training and simulation, where buttons and tools can be felt through tactile feedback for an effective learning and training experience. The wearable device 200, 500 can be used for hand rehabilitation to train patients' hand-eye coordination and improve finger strength and range of motion. With gamified training content, patients can be more motivated to practice.

[0118] Fig.13 Various possible applications of wearable devices 200, 500 in the reality-virtuality continuum are shown, such as medical training, industrial training, entertainment, and social interaction. For example, a two-person chess game demonstrates a scenario where users pick up and feel chess pieces, and even feel each other's physical contact by shaking hands. For example, social interaction with multiple users can be achieved, beyond the traditional single-person interaction with virtual objects. Wearable devices 200, 500 improve touch, which can enhance social interaction in the emerging metaverse.

[0119] Additive Manufacturing

[0120] The force control module 100 or the remote force control module 600 or its components can be manufactured by various manufacturing methods, such as injection molding, laser cutting and CNC machining. In some embodiments, the force control module 100 and the remote force control module 600 or its components or products including the force control module 100 and the remote force control module 600 or their components can be formed by a manufacturing process including an additive manufacturing process. A common example of additive manufacturing is three-dimensional (3D) printing. However, other methods of additive manufacturing are available. Rapid prototyping or rapid manufacturing are also terms that can be used to describe additive manufacturing processes.

[0121] As used herein, "additive manufacturing" generally refers to a manufacturing process in which successive layers of material are arranged on top of each other to "build" or "additively manufacture" a 3D part layer by layer. This is in contrast to some subtractive manufacturing methods (such as milling or drilling), in which material is removed successively to make a part. Successive layers are typically fused together to form an integral part, which may have various integral sub-components. In particular, the manufacturing process may allow examples of the present disclosure to be integrally formed and include various features that are not achievable using existing manufacturing methods.

[0122] The additive manufacturing method described herein is capable of manufacturing any suitable size and shape with a variety of features that are not possible using existing manufacturing methods. Additive manufacturing can produce complex geometries without the use of any tools, molds, or fixtures, and with little or no waste. The only material used in additive manufacturing is that required to mold the part, rather than machining the part from a solid billet of plastic or metal (most of which is cut away and discarded).

[0123] Suitable additive manufacturing techniques according to the present disclosure include, for example, fused deposition modeling (FDM), selective laser sintering (SLS), 3D printing (e.g., by inkjet and laser inkjet), stereolithography (SLA), direct selective laser sintering (DSLS), electron beam sintering (EBS), electron beam melting (EBM), laser engineered net shaping (lenses), electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM), laser net shaping manufacturing (LNS), direct metal deposition (DMD), digital light processing (DLP), continuous digital light processing (CDLP), direct selective laser melting (DSLM), selective laser melting (SLM), direct metal laser melting (DMLM), direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), material jetting (MJ), nanoparticle jetting (NPJ), drop on demand (DOD), binder jetting (BJ), multi jet fusion (MJF), laminated object manufacturing (LOM) and other known processes.

[0124] The additive manufacturing processes described herein can be used to form parts using any suitable material. For example, the material can be metal, plastic, polymer, composite material, or any other suitable material (which can be solid, liquid, powder, sheet, wire, or any other suitable form or combination thereof). More specifically, according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the additively manufactured parts described herein can be formed partially, in whole, or in some combination of materials suitable for additive manufacturing processes, and can be suitable for the manufacture of the examples described herein.

[0125] As described above, the additive manufacturing process disclosed herein allows a single component to be formed from a variety of materials. Therefore, the examples described herein can be formed from any suitable mixture of the above materials. For example, a component may include multiple layers, sections, or components formed using different materials, processes, and / or on different additive manufacturing machines. In this way, components with different materials and material properties can be constructed to meet the needs of any particular application. In addition, although the components described herein are constructed entirely by additive manufacturing processes, it should be understood that in alternative embodiments, all or part of these components can be formed by casting, machining, and / or any other suitable manufacturing process. In fact, any combination of suitable materials and manufacturing methods can be used to form these components.

[0126] Additive manufacturing processes typically manufacture components based on 3D information of the component, such as a 3D computer model (or design file). Therefore, the examples described herein include not only the products or components described herein, but also methods of manufacturing such products or components by additive manufacturing, and computer software, firmware or hardware for controlling the manufacture of such products by additive manufacturing.

[0127] The structure of a product can be represented digitally in the form of a design file. A design file or computer-aided design (CAD) file is a configuration file that encodes one or more surface or volume configurations of the shape of a product. In other words, a design file represents the geometric arrangement or shape of a product.

[0128] The design file may be in any now known or later developed file format. For example, the design file may be in the stereolithography or "Standard Tessellation Language" (.stl) format, which was created for 3D Systems' stereolithography CAD program, or in the Additive Manufacturing File (.amf) format, which is an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standard and is an Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based format designed to allow any CAD software to describe the shape and composition of any 3D object to be manufactured on any additive manufacturing printer. Other examples of design file formats include AutoCAD (.dwg) files, Blender (.blend) files, Parasolid (.x_t) files, 3D Manufacturing Format (.3mf) files, Autodesk (3ds) files, Collada (.dae) files, and Wavefront (.obj) files (although many others exist).

[0129] The surface configuration of the product can be measured using modeling (e.g., CAD modeling) software and / or by scanning the surface of the product to generate a design file. Once obtained, the design file can be converted into a set of computer executable instructions that, once executed by a processor, cause the processor to control the additive manufacturing device to produce the product according to the geometric arrangement specified in the design file. The conversion can convert the design file into slices or layers that will be sequentially formed by the additive manufacturing device. The instructions (also called geometric codes or "G-codes") can be calibrated according to a specific additive manufacturing device and can specify the precise location and amount of material to be formed at each stage of the manufacturing process. As described above, it can be formed by deposition, sintering, or any other form of additive manufacturing method.

[0130] The code or instructions may be converted between different formats, converted into a set of data signals and sent, and received as a set of data signals and converted into code, stored, etc. (if necessary). The instructions may be input to the additive manufacturing system and may come from a part designer, an intellectual property (IP) provider, a design company, an operator or owner of the additive manufacturing system, or from other sources. The additive manufacturing system may execute the instructions to manufacture a product using any of the techniques or methods disclosed herein.

[0131] The design file or computer executable instructions may be stored (temporarily or non-temporarily) on a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a memory, a storage system, etc.) for storing code or computer readable instructions representing the product to be produced. As described above, the code or computer readable instructions defining the product may be used to physically generate the object when the code or instructions are executed by the additive manufacturing system. For example, the instructions may include a precisely defined 3D model of the product and may be generated from any of a variety of well-known CAD software systems, such as DesignCAD 3DMax, etc. Alternatively, a model or prototype of a product can be scanned to determine the 3D information of the product. Therefore, by controlling the additive manufacturing device according to the computer executable instructions, the additive manufacturing device can be instructed to print out the product.

[0132] In view of the above, an embodiment includes a method of manufacturing by additive manufacturing. This includes the steps of obtaining a design file representing a product and instructing an additive manufacturing device to manufacture the product according to the design file. The additive manufacturing device may include a processor configured to automatically convert the design file into computer executable instructions for controlling the manufacture of the product. In these embodiments, once input into the additive manufacturing device, the design file itself can automatically lead to the production of the product. Therefore, in this embodiment, the design file itself can be considered as a computer executable instruction that causes the additive manufacturing device to manufacture the product. Optionally, the design file can be converted into instructions by an external computing system, and the resulting computer executable instructions are provided to the additive manufacturing device.

[0133] In view of the above, the design and manufacture of the implementation of the subject matter and operations described in this specification can be implemented using digital electronic circuits, or implemented in computer software, firmware or hardware (including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents), or in a combination of one or more of them. For example, the hardware may include a processor, a microprocessor, an electronic circuit, an electronic component, an integrated circuit, etc. The implementation of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented using one or more computer programs (i.e., one or more computer program instruction modules), which are encoded on a computer storage medium for execution by a data processing device or for controlling the operation of the data processing device. Alternatively or additionally, the program instructions can be encoded on an artificially generated propagation signal (e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical or electromagnetic signal), which is generated to encode information for transmission to a suitable receiver device for execution by a data processing device. The computer storage medium can be or be included in a computer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memory array or device, or a combination of one or more of them. In addition, although the computer storage medium is not a propagation signal, the computer storage medium can be the source or destination of the computer program instructions encoded in the artificially generated propagation signal. The computer storage medium may also be, or be included in, one or more separate physical components or media (eg, multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices).

[0134] Although additive manufacturing techniques are described herein as being capable of manufacturing complex objects by building objects point by point, layer by layer (usually in a vertical direction), other manufacturing methods are possible and fall within the scope of the present subject matter. For example, although the discussion herein relates to adding materials to form successive layers, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the methods and structures disclosed herein can be implemented with any additive manufacturing technique or other manufacturing technique.

[0135] In the foregoing detailed description, embodiments of the present disclosure related to a force control module and a wearable device including a force control module are described with reference to the provided drawings. The description of various embodiments herein is not intended to lead to or be limited to a specific or particular representation of the present disclosure, but is merely to illustrate a non-limiting example of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is intended to solve at least one of the problems and issues mentioned in connection with the prior art. Although only some embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein, it is apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art in view of the present disclosure that various changes and / or modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure and the scope of the appended claims are not limited to the embodiments described herein.

Claims

1. A force control module, comprising: at least one fixing member; at least one rotating component aligned with the fixed component and rotatable about an axis of rotation of the fixed component; and an elastomeric member disposed in one of the fixed member and the rotating member and separated from an inner surface of one of the fixed member and the rotating member, the elastomeric member being connected to the rotating member so that the elastomeric member can rotate around the rotation axis by the rotating member, The elastic member is capable of being actuated toward the inner surface to generate a variable actuation force on the inner surface, wherein the variable actuation force is used to resist rotation of the rotating member.

2. The force control module according to claim 1, wherein: The elastomeric member is expandable toward the inner surface.

3. The force control module of claim 2, further comprising a set of inlets for inflating the elastomeric member.

4. The force control module according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: Also included is a cable connected to the rotating member for rotating the rotating member. 5 . The force control module according to claim 1 , further comprising an elastic member connected to the fixed component and the rotating component, the elastic member being configured to bias the rotating component to an initial position before the rotating component rotates.

6. The force control module according to claim 5, wherein: The elastic member includes a rotation sensor for measuring a rotation angle.

7. A wearable device comprising: a glove comprising a plurality of finger portions; a plurality of force control modules, each force control module being connected to a corresponding one of the finger parts and comprising: at least one fixing member; at least one rotating member aligned with the fixed member and rotatable about an axis of rotation of the fixed member; an elastomeric member disposed in one of the fixed member and the rotating member and separated from an inner surface of one of the fixed member and the rotating member, the elastomeric member being connected to the rotating member so that the elastomeric member can rotate around the rotation axis through the rotating member; and a cable, wherein the cable is connected to the rotating member and the corresponding finger portion to rotate the rotating member in response to movement of the corresponding finger portion; and a controller module configured to control the force control module to actuate the elastomeric member toward the inner surface to generate a variable actuation force on the inner surface, the variable actuation force being used to resist rotation of the elastomeric member; wherein the resisted rotation of the rotating component in response to the movement of the finger portion generates tactile feedback in the finger portion.

8. The wearable device of claim 7, further comprising a pneumatic system connected to the force control module and controllable by the controller module for inflating the elastomeric member to engage the inner surface.

9. The wearable device according to claim 8, wherein: The pneumatic system includes a plurality of pneumatic modules, each of which is connected to a corresponding one of the force control modules for inflating a corresponding elastomeric component.

10. The wearable device according to claim 9, wherein: The pneumatic system also includes a chamber for storing pressurized fluid and transferring the pressurized fluid from the chamber to the pneumatic module.

11. The wearable device according to claim 10, wherein: The chamber is configured to maintain a predetermined pressure therein.

12. The wearable device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein: Each pneumatic module includes an inlet valve and an outlet valve to regulate communication of the pressurized fluid to the corresponding force control module.

13. The wearable device according to any one of claims 7 to 12, further comprising a tracking device for tracking the movement of the glove.

14. The wearable device according to claim 13, wherein: The controller module and the tracking device are configured to communicate with a computer system.

15. The wearable device according to claim 14, wherein: The controller module is configured to receive haptic signals from the computer system and control actuation of the elastomeric member based on the haptic signals.

16. The wearable device according to claim 14 or 15, wherein: The controller module and the tracking device are configured to transmit motion data to the computer system based on the motion of the finger portion.

17. The wearable device according to any one of claims 7 to 16, wherein: Each force control module further includes an elastic member connected to the fixed component and the rotating component, the elastic member being configured to bias the rotating component to an initial position before the rotating component rotates.

18. The wearable device according to claim 17, wherein: The elastic member includes a rotation sensor for measuring a rotation angle.

19. The wearable device according to any one of claims 7 to 18, further comprising a plurality of remote force control modules, each remote force control module being connected to the remote end of a corresponding one of the finger parts.

20. The wearable device according to claim 19, wherein: Each distal force control module includes a first elastomeric member and a second elastomeric member coupled together.

21. The wearable device according to claim 20, wherein: Each distal force control module also includes a fluid member for inflating the first elastomeric member and the second elastomeric member.

22. The wearable device according to claim 20 or 21, wherein: The first and second elastomeric members have different elastic moduli such that the first elastomeric member expands more than the second elastomeric member during inflation.

23. A computer program comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to control an additive manufacturing apparatus to manufacture a product comprising a force control module according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

24. A method of manufacturing a product by additive manufacturing, the method comprising: obtaining an electronic file representing the geometry of the product, wherein the product comprises a force control module according to any one of claims 1 to 6; and In one or more additive manufacturing steps, an additive manufacturing device is controlled to manufacture the product according to the geometric shape specified in the electronic file.

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