Modular Haptic Unit Cells for Cross-Wearable Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wearable devices providing haptic feedback are use-specific and not easily adaptable across different types, leading to costly redesigns and prohibitive manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
Modular unit cells with haptic-feedback generators that can be integrated into various wearable devices, allowing for a common standard design that interacts with other unit cells and reduces the need for extensive redesigns, enabling mass production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If use-specific designs are used for wearable haptic devices, then the device can be optimized for a particular application, but the cost increases and redesign is required for each new application
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal haptic feedback generator design that can be applied across multiple wearable device types (gloves, suits, jackets) without requiring redesign. The standardized interface and modular architecture allow the same core component to serve different applications, eliminating the need for application-specific customization while maintaining optimization through parameter adjustment rather than structural redesign.
Solution Approach 2:
The wearable device is divided into modular unit cells, each containing a haptic feedback generator. These standardized modules can be independently manufactured and then assembled into different wearable configurations (gloves, suits, jackets), allowing mass production of individual components and reducing overall manufacturing complexity and cost.
2Reliability
If use-specific designs are used for wearable haptic devices, then the device can be optimized for a particular application, but repeated redesigns are required for different applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes a universal design platform where the core haptic feedback generator and its interface remain consistent across different wearable applications. This allows the same design to be deployed for gloves, suits, jackets, and other wearables without redesign, eliminating iterative development cycles while maintaining application-specific performance through software control and parameter adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary standardization of the haptic feedback generator design and interface before deployment across different applications. By establishing the universal architecture in advance, the design is ready for immediate deployment to multiple applications without requiring subsequent redesign or adaptation, saving significant development time.
3Ease of manufacture
If standardized modular unit cells are used, then manufacturing costs are reduced through mass production, but the device may lose application-specific optimization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different wearable configurations (gloves, suits, jackets) to have different densities and distributions of the standardized haptic unit cells. While the unit cells themselves are identical and mass-producible, their arrangement and concentration can be optimized for specific applications, maintaining application-specific performance without sacrificing manufacturing efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables cost-effective manufacturing of wearable devices by allowing components to be used across different devices, reducing the need for repeated redesigns and facilitating modular integration.
Implementation Method 1
each unit cell includes a haptic-feedback generator... causing the unit cell to expand against the user's skin to provide a tactile haptic feedback
Implementation Method 2
The connection is adjustable to move the first unit cell away from the first position or the second unit cell away from the second position... providing a shear haptic feedback
Data Source
AI summary
A wearable device comprises a unit cell that includes, a structural element that has proximal and distal sides, and a first distal haptic-feedback generator of a first kind and a second distal haptic-feedback generator of the first kind that are both connected to the distal side of the structural element. The unit cell includes a proximal haptic-feedback generator that is connected to the proximal side of the structural element. The wearable device includes a processor configured to: cause a first type of haptic feedback by activating the first distal haptic-feedback generator to cant the structural element relative to skin of the user, cause a second type of haptic feedback by activating the first and second distal haptic-feedback generators to displace the structural element, and cause a third type of haptic feedback by activating the proximal haptic-feedback generator.