Development of a New PVC-Gel Actuator for Implementing Emotional Vibration

Abstract

Electro-hydraulic actuators, a type of soft actuators, can provide soft-touch vibrations due to their structural characteristics, but some problems need to be improved to apply them to vehicles. That is, it is necessary to increase excitation force, expand frequency band, lower driving voltage, and increase durability. This research aims to design a new type based on electro-hydraulic actuator and improve problems with its performance to develop a product that generates emotional vibration in vehicles. First, a new mechanism and design of an electro-hydraulic actuator called a PVC-gel film actuator are proposed. This actuator uses PVC-gel as a film which covers a dielectric liquid and uses carbon nanotube as a cathode material. In addition, a method of manufacturing an actuator with improved performance has been proposed by creating and testing prototypes with different sizes and material properties. It has been verified that the proposed actuator improves excitation force, frequency band, driving voltage, and durability compared to the existing actuator. Next, as a result of investigating the object that this actuator can exert the most effect on a vehicle based on body sensitivity, a device has been developed that built into a neck pillow in front of the vehicle seat and linked to the music played on the vehicle to generate a comfortable vibration in the neck. In addition, four vibration scenarios have been constructed to generate vibrations according to various genres of music. Finally, as a result of testing on a vehicle with a large number of people, it has been verified that the vibration generating device developed in this study can provide a new and emotional vibration experience for users.