[JL] PA/MA - Actuator Simulator

Offizieller Titel Deutsch

Official Titel English

Task Description / Aufgabenstellung

The Institute for Mechatronics in Mechanics is addressing the challenge that vibrotactile actuators, despite their widespread use for haptic feedback in consumer devices, still lack a standardized and physically validated method of characterization. A recent characterisation study (Lüer et al., 2025) measured 26 such actuators under both idle (unloaded) abd blocked (loaded) conditions and has established measurement-based Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to describe actuator behaviour under Coupled-Resonance-Dynamics (CRD). A central finding of this work is that an actuator’s dynamics are not fiexed properties of the actuator alone, but shift depending on the added mechanical load - the actuator and its load form a coupled system (--> CRD).

While the study focuses on characterising existing actuators, no comparable system currently exists that can reproduce the measured dynamic behaviour of a given actuator on demand. Such a system would make it possible to evaluate haptic sensations attributable to specific actuators without requiring the physical actuator itself.

This project aims to develop and validate a vibrotactile actuator simulator - a closed-loop controlled system capable of physically reproducing the dynamic mechanical behaviour of a real, previously characterized vibrotactile actuator. The target is a device that can be configured via its parameters to behave as if a specific mass-spring-damper system is physically driven, corresponding to a given actuator from the reference dataset.

Building on the coupled-resonsnce findings of the reference study, the simulator is to model not only the actuator itself, but also the mechanical load it drives (e.g. a vibrating plate, housing, or other coupled spring-mass-damper elements) as a configurable model in its own. This allows the same actuator to be simulated under varying, systematically defined load conditions, rather than under a single fixed physical load, and enables direct investigation of coupled-resonance behaviour.

List of Tasks:

• Literature Review of vibrotactile actuator characterization, coupled-resonance-dynamics and existing devices

• Compare and evaluate different solutions, f.ex. voice coil actuator vs. custom-built voice coil rig vs. off-the-shelf shaker

• Design and build: vibrational source, friction linear guide, force and acceleration sensing, mechanical rig

• Design and implement the closed-loop impedance control system

• Model the mechanical load as a configurable mass-spring-damper system, in addition to the actuator model, to enable simulation of a given actuator under varying, systematically defined load conditions

• Validate the simulator against real actuator measurements: quantitative comparison (force/velocity/acceleration curves, at minimum 2–3 reference actuators)

• Discuss limitations (bandwidth, friction, force range) and outline extensions

Reference Person @Juliana Lüer

Zeitplanung:

Checklist

• Introduction / tour in M4

• Urheberrechtsvereinbarung signed: https://www.tuhh.de/t3resources/sls/pdf/ZPA/Formulare_oeffentlich/Rechte_an_Abschlussarbeiten.pdf

• if applicable: signed confidential agreement

• official registration

Helpful links:

• Thesis Work / Studentische Arbeiten 

• Criteria for the evaluation of Bachelor's and Master's theses, handout version

• Laborordnung

• Spotlights / Kurzvorträge

• Templates (Latex, ppt etc.)

Document Upload Final Thesis / Dokumentenabgabe Abschlussdokument

File of final presentation / Dokumentenabgabe Abschlusspräsentation

Link for further files / Link für weitere Dokumente