An Enhanced Soft Vibrotactile Actuator Based on ePVC Gel with Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles

In this paper, we propose a soft vibrotactile actuator made by mixing silicon dioxide <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathrm{(SiO}}_{2})$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="kim-ieq1-2808176.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> nanoparticles and plasticized PVC gel. The effect of the silicon dioxide nanoparticles in the plasticized PVC gel for the haptic performance is investigated in terms of electric, dielectric, and mechanical properties. Furthermore, eight soft vibrotactile actuators are prepared as a function of the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathrm{SiO}}_{2}$</tex-math> <alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="kim-ieq2-2808176.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> content. Experiments are conducted to examine the haptic performance of the prepared eight soft vibrotactile actuators and to find the best weight ratio of the plasticized PVC gel to the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathrm{SiO}}_{2}$ </tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="kim-ieq3-2808176.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> nanoparticles. The experiments should show that the plasticized PVC gel with silicon dioxide nanoparticles improves the haptic performance of the plasticized PVC gel-based vibrotactile actuator, and the proposed vibrotactile actuator can create a variety of haptic sensations in a wide frequency range.