Note: Full Poster available in PDF format (197KB).
Tactile displays are used to communicate information to users through their sense of touch, which is the essential mode used by the blind and visually impaired to interact with their environment. Improved, barrier-free access to electronic media for blind users is required according to European recommendation 2000/78/EG. Nevertheless, tactile displays are still limited due to technical issues and high cost, making them inaccessible to most blind people.
In this poster we present a new approach for tactile graphical displays, which consists of shape memory thin film actuators coated in a wave-like design on a silicon wafer. Among all known actuators materials, shape memory alloy actuators provide the highest work output. Furthermore, thin film actuators are able to provide higher actuation frequencies due to their high surface to volume ratio. By combining two different shape memory alloys with different physical properties, smart composites have been developed, allowing for a new switching mechanism. Hence, only two different heat pulses are required to switch the actuators between their two stable positions without complex mechanical constructions.
By utilizing novel fabrication and materials design technologies, the new display allows for the production of highly integrated actuators with a straightforward and simple assembly concept. We describe the design of the display and the required microfabrication steps.
Prior knowledge of topic assumed: High
Contains advanced technical content: Yes
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