Haptic actuators generate touch sensations and provide realism and depth in human-machine interactions. A new generation of soft haptic interfaces is desired to produce the distributed signals over large areas that are required to mimic natural touch interactions. One promising approach is to combine the advantages of organic actuator materials and additive printing technologies. This powerful combination can lead to devices that are ergonomic, readily customizable, and economical for researchers to explore potential benefits and create new haptic applications. Here, an overview of emerging organic actuator materials and digital printing technologies for fabricating haptic actuators is provided. In particular, the focus is on the challenges and potential solutions associated with integration of multi-material actuators, with an eye toward improving the fidelity and robustness of the printing process. Then the progress in achieving compact, lightweight haptic actuators by using an open-source extrusion printer to integrate different polymers and composites in freeform designs is reported. Two haptic interfaces-a tactile surface and a kinesthetic glove-are demonstrated to show that printing with organic materials is a versatile approach for rapid prototyping of various types of haptic devices.
Keywords: haptics; kinesthetic actuators; printing; soft actuators; tactile surfaces.
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