Moderately reverberant learning ultrasonic pinch panel.

Tactile sensing is widely used in human-computer interfaces. However, mechanical integration of touch technologies is often perceived as difficult by engineers because it often limits the freedom of style or form factor requested by designers. Recent work in active ultrasonic touch technologies has made it possible to transform thin glass plates, metallic sheets, or plastic shells into interactive surfaces. The method is based on a learning process of touch-induced, amplitude-disturbed diffraction patterns. This paper proposes, first, an evolution in the design with multiple dipole transducers that improves touch sensitivity or maximum panel size by a factor of ten, and improves robustness and usability in moderately reverberant panels, and second, defines a set of acoustic variables in the signal processing for the evaluation of sensitivity and radiating features. For proof of concept purposes, the design and process are applied to 3.2- and 6-mm-thick glass plates with variable damping conditions. Transducers are bonded to only one short side of the rectangular substrates. Measurements show that the highly sensitive free lateral sides are perfectly adapted for pinch-touch and pinch-slide interactions. The advantage of relative versus absolute touch disturbance measurement is discussed, together with tolerance to abutting contaminants.

250 DPI at 1000 Hz acquisition rate S0 lamb wave digitizing pen.

This paper presents an active stylus (X, Y) flat digitizing tablet (AST). The tablet features an acquisition rate of 1000 pts/s with 0.1 mm resolution. The cordless stylus incorporates a 1-mA low-power pulse generator. Precision is limited by diffraction to about ±0.3 mm on a 57 x 57 mm region of a 71 x 71 x 1 mm digitizing plate. Selective generation and detection of the S(0) Lamb mode with a precessing tip is the key feature of this tablet. We first highlight the ultrasonic propagation inside the stylus tip and stability of Lamb wave generation when the stylus is inclined, rotated, and slid. Then, modeling of the limitations imposed by diffraction of a 1-MHz burst S(0) plane Lamb wave packet is carried out. The model takes into account high-order zero crossing detection as well as reflections and shear horizontal (SH) conversions of the S(0) Lamb mode at free edges of a glass plate. Reflection and transmission through an isotropic PZT bar are also calculated. Finally, localization precision by time difference of arrival (TDOA) is calculated and experimentally verified near the borders of the plate, taking into account the angular sensitivity of the precessing tip.

Loading effect of a metallic parabolic tip on S0 and A0 Lamb waves.

The loading effect induced by the contact between a parabolic duralumin tip and a free glass plate is investigated using Lamb waves and an optical heterodyne interferometric probe. The instrument detects 1-MHz impulse symmetric S0 and antisymmetric A0 Lamb wave trains launched in 1-mm-thick B270-type glass. Strain-optic modeling is carried out to explain optical measurement through the transparent medium and the loading effect of the tip. Three-wave optical interference modeling is also developed to explain the presence of fringes of equal thickness in C-scans of both modes propagating in a plate that has a 1.1-mrad wedge. Results show that through-glass probing inverts by a factor of -3.1 the signal that is normally returned by the interferometer at a free-air surface for the S0 Lamb mode. Fringes of equal thickness reveal the spatial extension of the mechanical loading. Through-glass probing on A0 produces about the same signal as in a free-air measurement configuration. This mode appears to be more appropriate for the evaluation of the loading effect of the tip. For this parabolic tip, we observe an A0 attenuation of about 50% in the contact area.

Lamb-wave (X, Y) giant tap screen panel with built-in microphone and loudspeaker.

This paper presents a passive (X, Y) giant tap screen panel (GTP). Based on the time difference of arrival principle (TDOA), the device localizes low-energy impacts of around 1 mJ generated by fingernail taps. Selective detection of A0 Lamb waves generated in the upper frequency spectrum, around 100 kHz, makes it possible to detect light to strong impacts with equal resolution or precision, close to 1 cm and 2 mm, respectively, for a 10-mm-thick and 1-m(2) glass plate. Additionally, with glass, symmetrical beveling of the edges is used to create a tsunami effect that reduces the minimum impacting speed for light taps by a factor of three. Response time is less than 1 ms. Maximum panel size is of the order of 10 m(2). A rugged integrated flat design with embedded transducers in an electrically shielding frame features waterproof and sticker/ tag proof operation. Sophisticated electronics with floating amplification maintains the panel at its maximum possible sensitivity according to the surrounding noise. Amplification and filtering turns the panel into a microphone and loudspeaker featuring 50 mV/Pa as a microphone and up to 80 dBlin between 500 Hz and 8 kHz as a loudspeaker.