Wearable distributed tactile devices aim to provide multipoint touch stimuli, but struggle to provide sufficient forces (> 1 N) at frequencies to invoke deep pressure sensation with minimal encumbrance at small scales. This work presents a method of fabricating arrays of pneumatic actuators from thermoplastic-coated textiles. By routing pneumatic inlets to a common fold line in the fabric, we demonstrate that multiple pneumatic pouch actuators can be formed in a single simple heat-pressing operation that does not require the use of sacrificial blocking layers. The method accommodates a range of actuator diameters and spacing distances, including as compact as 8 mm diameter actuators spaced 1 mm apart, which enables use in fingertip wearable devices. In a blocked force test, these small pneumatic textile actuators exert 2.1 N when pressurized to 230 kPa. With this pair of actuators, we demonstrate an example application in which we invoke both distinct and summative stimuli, suggesting the possibility of titrating just noticeable difference in amplitude with a textile actuator array.

翻译：可穿戴分布式触觉设备旨在提供多点触觉刺激，但在小尺度下以最小累赘度提供足以引发深度压力感应的频率和足够大的力（> 1 N）方面存在困难。本研究提出了一种利用热塑性涂层织物制造气动执行器阵列的方法。通过将气动入口引导至织物中的公共折叠线，我们证明了无需使用牺牲阻挡层，仅通过一次简单的热压操作即可形成多个气动囊式执行器。该方法适用于多种执行器直径和间距，包括直径小至8毫米、间距仅1毫米的紧凑型设计，从而适用于指尖可穿戴设备。在阻塞力测试中，这些小型纺织物气动执行器在加压至230 kPa时可产生2.1 N的力。利用这对执行器，我们展示了一个应用示例，其中我们既引发了独立的刺激，也引发了叠加刺激，这表明利用纺织物执行器阵列调节振幅的恰可察觉差具有潜在可行性。