• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.564-572
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• 2004

Modem applications could benefit from multifunctional materials having anisotropic optical, electrical, thermal, or mechanical properties, especially when coupled with locally controlled distribution of the directional response. Such materials are difficult to engineer by conventional methods, but the electric field-aided technology presented herein is able to locally tailor electroactive composites. Applying an electric field to a polymer in its liquid state allows the orientation of chain- or fiber-like inclusions or phases from what was originally an isotropic material. Such composites can be formed from liquid solutions, melts, or mixtures of pre-polymers and cross-linking agents. Upon curing, a 'created composite' results; it consists of these 'pseudofibers' embedded in a matrix. One can also create oriented composites from embedded spheres, flakes, or fiber-like shapes in a liquid plastic. Orientation of the externally applied electric field defines the orientation of the field-aided self-assembled composites. The strength and duration of exposure of the electric field control the degree of anisotropy created. Results of electromechanical testing of these modified materials, which are relevant to sensing and actuation applications, are presented. The materials' micro/nanostructures were analyzed using microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2021

Soft fluidic actuators (SFAs) are widely utilized in various areas such as wearable systems due to the inherent compliance which allows safe and flexible interaction. However, SFA-driven systems generally require a large pump, multiple valves and tubes, which hinders to develop a miniaturized system with small range of motion. Thus, a highly integrated soft actuator needs to be developed for implementing a compact SFA-driven system. In this study, we propose an electro-hydraulic soft zipping actuator that can be used as a miniature pump. This actuator exerts tactile force as a dielectric liquid contained inside the actuator pressurized its deformable part. In addition, the proposed actuator can estimate the internal dielectric liquid thickness by using its self-sensing function. Besides, the electrical characteristics and driving performance of the proposed system were verified through experiments.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.55-60
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• 2010

Rodents can recognize objects by using their whiskers. Not only rodents but also mammals use their whiskers to recognize objects. However, rodents can discriminate surface roughness in micrometer resolution throughout their whisker sensing. Rats can distinguish an target object's shape, roughness and surface pattern by moving their whisker back and forth freely. Mechanoreceptors surrounding the whisker in their follicle measure deflection and vibration of the whisker. In this paper, we designed biomimetic whiskers modeling rodent whiskers and showed the characteristic properties to extract the information of surface roughness.

• Journal of Korean Medical Ki-Gong Academy
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-27
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• 2023

Objective : This paper provides a narrative review of the research literature on the neurophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms of local vibration while studying the treatment principles and mechanisms of Whidam's vibrator Sugi therapy. Methods : Searches related to vibration therapy research were conducted in PUBMED using "Vibration", "Whole Body Vibration", "Localized Vibration", and "Focal Vibration". The Conditions were limited to review and systematic review. Results : Roberto Casale's paper was selected as an inquiry task and reviewed critically and narratively by referring to other papers. The stimulation process of local vibration (LV) was broadly classified into receptor transmission (pain reception phase), ascending sensory pathway to the spinal cord (segmental phase), and action of the cortex and subcortical structures (systemic control phase) according to the pain pathway. In addition, the role of C-tactile mechanoreceptors, changes in neurotransmitters and neurohormones, LV stimulation below perception threshold (lower threshold), pain control and kinesiologic illusions were specially addressed. In addition, the expression and function of Piezo Channels were added to supplement the human pain and tactile sensing mechanism. Conclusions : LV exerts pain control mechanisms through different interactions that can interfere with pain transmission and pain perception. Since LV provides sufficient neurophysiological reasons for clinical application, it is necessary to expand the use of Whidam's vibrator Sugi therapy to a wider range of clinical applications.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.88-94
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• 2023

Recently, piezoelectric tactile sensors have garnered considerable attention in the field of texture recognition owing to their high sensitivity and high-frequency detection capability. Despite their remarkable potential, improving their mechanical flexibility to attach to complex surfaces remains challenging. In this study, we present a flexible piezoelectric sensor that can be bent to an extremely small radius of up to 2.5 mm and still maintain good electrical performance. The proposed sensor was fabricated by controlling the thickness that induces internal stress under external deformation. The fabricated piezoelectric sensor exhibited a high sensitivity of 9.3 nA/kPa ranging from 0 to 10 kPa and a wide frequency range of up to 1 kHz. To demonstrate real-time texture recognition by rubbing the surface of an object with our sensor, nine sets of fabric plates were prepared to reflect their material properties and surface roughness. To extract features of the objects from the detected sensing data, we converted the analog dataset to short-term Fourier transform images. Subsequently, texture recognition was performed using a convolutional neural network with a classification accuracy of 97%.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.322-331
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• 2017

In this paper we present a novel robotic palpation method for the lump shape estimation using contact pressure distribution. Many previous researches about the robotic palpation have used a stiffness map, which is not suitable to obtain geometrical information of a lump. As a result, they require a large data set and long palpation time to estimate the lump shape. Instead of using the stiffness map, the proposed palpation method uses the difference between the normal force direction and the surface normal to detect the lump boundary and estimate its normal. The palpation trajectory is generated by the normal of the lump boundary to track the lump boundary in real-time. The proposed approach requires small data set and short palpation time for the lump shape estimation since the shape can be directly estimated from the optimally generated palpation trajectory. An experiment result shows that our method can find the lump shape accurately in real-time with small data and short time.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2015

Recently, advances in nano-material researches have opened the door for various transparent conductive materials, which include carbon nanotube, graphene, Ag and Cu nanowire, and printable metal grids. Among them, Ag nanowires are particularly interesting to synthesize because bulk Ag exhibits the highest electrical conductivity among all metals. Here we reviewed recently-published research works introducing various devices from organic light emitting diode to tactile sensing devices, all of which are employing AgNW for a conducting material. They proposed methods to enhance the stretchability and reversibility of the transparent electrodes, and apply them to make various flexible and stretchable electronics. It is expected that Ag nanowires are applicable to a wide range of high-performance, low-cost, stretchable electronic devices.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.4 s.235
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• pp.540-554
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• 2005

This paper presents a motion planning and control method for the dexterous manipulation with a robotic hand. For a given trajectory of an object, a simulation system calculates the necessary joint displacements and contact forces at the fingertip surfaces. These joint displacements and contact forces are the reference inputs to the control loops of the robotic fingers. A task is decomposed into a set of primitive motions, and each primitive motion is executed using the planned output of the simulation system as the reference. Force sensors and dynamic tactile sensors are used to adapt to errors and uncertainties encountered during manipulation. Several experimental results are presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.251-255
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• 2003

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and calibration of a piezoelectric polymer-based sensorized microgripper. Electro discharge machining technology is employed to fabricate super-elastic alloy based micro gripper. It is tested to present improvement of mechanical performance. For integration of force sensor on the micro gripper, the sensor design based on the piezoelectric polymer PVDF film and fabrication process are presented. The calibration and performance test of force sensor integrated micro gripper are experimentally carried out. The force sensor integrated micro gripper is applied to perform fine alignment tasks of micro opto-electrical components. It successfully supplies force feedback to the operator through the haptic device and plays a main role in preventing damage of assembly parts by adjusting the teaching command.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.59-69
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• 2016

This study aimed to understand the importance of applying finishing materials into interior space, and to add meaning to the creation of functional space, associated interior finishing materials with brain science. To achieve this purpose, brainwave(EEG) experiment was conducted. The brainwave appearing when sensing the surface of interior finishing materials with hands was measured. The locations of the electrode were FP1, FP2, F3, F4, C3, C4, P3, P4, O1, O2, F7, F8, T3, T4, T5, T6, CZ, FZ, and PZ and in addition to these, AFZ was added. Eight(8) kinds of finishing materials: metallic material, film paper, lumbar, stone, glass, silk wallpaper, fabric, and paint were used to measure '${\alpha}$-wave against ${\beta}$ wave.' As a result, it was found that the most activated finishing material in term of relaxation was film paper, followed by metallic, glass, paint, fabric, stone, lumbar, and silk wallpaper. To explain in light of this, (1) '${\alpha}$-wave against ${\beta}$ wave' was the most activated at ch1-FP1 and ch2-FP2, and at ch17-AFZ and ch19-FZ, which indicated that metopic-prefrontal lobe showed the highest activation in relaxation. Film paper, among the finishing materials, showed the highest increase in relaxation. (2) In general, '${\alpha}$-wave against ${\beta}$ wave' relaxation was inhibited at ch13-T3 and ch14-T4, and at ch15-T5 and ch16-T6 and the arousal in the temporal lobe was prominent. Silk wallpaper, among the finishing materials, showed the highest arounsal effect. As a result of measuring the superficial touch on the silk wallpaper, which was regarded as the most rough material among the eight finishing materials, the arousal effect of ${\alpha}$-wave against ${\beta}$-wave, among the brainwave characteristics, was found to be the highest. (3) to judge from the scope of this experiment regarding the tactile sensation over the finishing materials, it is considered that the brainwave reaction sometimes appeared contrastive depending on whether the surface was smooth or rough and there also appeared a difference in relaxation and arousal reaction of the brainwave depending on whether the surface was hot or cold, but the sensation on the surface texture was often evaluated differently depending on who you were. For this reason, this study has some limitations.