What happens when you combine “the Addams Family” with the “Black mirror”? Something like what was presented by the researcher of issues of cooperation between computers and people mark Tassler. Every day we tap on the screen of our mobile devices, maybe it’s time to give them the opportunity to poke us in response? With this thought mark Tassler have developed a robotic finger MobiLimb connecting to your smartphone and enhancing feedback to device.
According to information published on the official website of the inventor, his project, Tassler is going to present at the conference of developers of software and new technologies, which will be held in Berlin this October.
Robotic finger works on the basis of five servo PZ-15320, providing sufficient capacity to support the weight of the smartphone (130 grams). The contact force can be up to 0.8 N. The housing is made of plastic, printed on a 3D printer. The finger connects to the device on the principle of “plug and play”. It can be used as a stand, handle, as well as device notifications (for example, we got an SMS on the phone, the finger knocks on the table).
Feedback is provided by finger movements generated by the actuators. Moreover, the flexible potentiometer determines the touch of the user. As a control, here we use the microcontroller Arduino Leonardo Pro Micro, which is located in the base that connects to a smartphone. The last phalanx of the finger has a modular design that allows you to connect other sensors, LED and other LEDs.
To control and interact with the robotic finger developed Android/Unity API. The latter allows you to create, record, and play back animations.
In addition, for a robotic finger created several options for coverage. The first looks like a standard robotic plastic shell. The other imitates a human finger and is made of high quality silicone Plastil Gel-10 used in the film industry to create artificial limbs and skin. There are still options in the form of various tails, allowing a new sense displayed on the screen of the smartphone pictures.
More details about the project can be found on the official website of the author.
To discuss the project in our Telegram chat.
The robotic finger will increase feedback with your smartphone
Nikolai Khizhnyak