No abstract

With the ubiquity of touch screens and the commercialization of electroadhesion‐based surface haptic devices, modeling tools that capture the multiphysical phenomena within the finger–device interface and their interaction are critical to design devices that achieve higher performance and reliability at lower cost. While electroadhesion has successfully demonstrated the capability to change tactile perception through friction modulation, the mechanism of electroadhesion in the finger–device interface is still unclear, partly due to the complex interfacial physics including contact deformation, capillary formation, electric field, and their complicated coupling effects that have not been addressed comprehensively. A multiphysics model is presented here to predict the friction force for finger–surface tactile interactions at the nanoscale. The nanoscopic multiphysical phenomena are coupled to study the impacts of nanotexture and surface energy in the touch interface. With macroscopic friction force measurements as verification, the model is further used to propose textures that have maximum electroadhesion effect and minimum sensitivity to relative humidity and user perspiration rate. This model can guide the performance improvement of future electroadhesion‐based surface haptic devices and other touch‐based human–machine interfaces.

A large subset of haptic surfaces employs electroadhesion to modulate both adhesion and friction at a sliding finger interface. The current theory of electroadhesion assumes that the applied electric field pulls the skin into stronger contact, increasing friction by increasing the real contact area, yet it is unknown what role environmental moisture plays in the effect. This paper uses atomic force microscopy (AFM)to determine the effect of humidity on the adhesion and friction between the single nanoscale asperity and individual human finger corneocytes. An analytical model of the total effective load of the AFM tip is developed to explain the humidity−voltage dependence of nanoscale adhesion and friction at contacting asperities. The results show that the electrowetting effect at the interface at high humidity accounts for 35% of the adhesive force but less than 8% of the total friction, implying that the electrowetting effect can be enhanced by optimizing surface topography to promote the formation and rupture of liquid menisci.

Compared to relatively mature audio and video human-machine interfaces, providing accurate and immersive touch sensation remains a challenge owing to the substantial mechanical and neurophysical complexity of touch. Touch sensations during relative lateral motion between a skin-screen interface are largely dictated by interfacial friction, so controlling interfacial friction has the potential for realistic mimicry of surface texture, shape, and material composition. In this work, we show a large modulation of finger friction by locally changing surface temperature. Experiments showed that finger friction can be increased by ~50% with a surface temperature increase from 23° to 42°C, which was attributed to the temperature dependence of the viscoelasticity and the moisture level of human skin. Rendering virtual features, including zoning and bump(s), without thermal perception was further demonstrated with surface temperature modulation. This method of modulating finger friction has potential applications in gaming, virtual and augmented reality, and touchscreen human-machine interaction.