Development of a TV-image conversion to haptics display for the visually impaired | |
| Author | Blake, Xavier Jonathon |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ISE-23-01 |
| Subject(s) | Solenoids Optical data processing Touch People with visual disabilities--Technological innovations |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Mechatronics |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | It is important to provide assistive tools to people who have impaired vision, as their lifestyles are more restricted and those who have lost their sight would experience stress from the reduced sensory input. Non-visual haptic displays can provide suitable tactile feedback to allow someone to visualize an image without having to see it. This thesis focuses on the development of a 10 by 15 haptic display system utilizing images from a camera to set the heights of electromagnetically actuated pins. A master controller processes a frame from the camera and forwards the gray level values to a set of slave controllers. The slave controllers perform voltage-based magnetic levitation of each pin in order to set them to a height corresponding with the relative pixel. Once the pins are in place, a locking mechanism prevents them from moving from the set position. New images may be displayed every 5 seconds, giving the display 2 seconds to adjust the pin heights and 3 seconds for the user to feel the display. Optical distance sensors within each haptic pixel allow sub-millimeter accuracy of the height measurements, while the 12-bit resolution PWM signal allows precise height adjustment for each pin. Tests revealed that low-resolution binary and grayscale images may be shown on the display and continue to be recognized. The height control is capable of millimeter precision, and the locking mechanism allows the pins to resist 500mN of force. |
| Year | 2023 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology |
| Department | Department of Industrial Systems Engineering (DISE) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Mechatronics and Machine Intelligence (MMI) |
| Chairperson(s) | Manukid Parnichkun; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Mongkol Ekpanyapong;Riccò, Raffaele; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2023 |