• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.947-954
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• 2012

Sand scorpions are nocturnal animals to mostly use tactile senses to detect their prey. It has been reported that sand scorpions have high vibration sensitivity for their prey-localizing behavior. We tested vibration experiments in the sand with microphone sensors to model the sand scorpion's behavior and a time-difference model was applied to find the direction of a vibration source. Using the information of the arrival time of the vibration signal to reach each leg position, we can find the location of the vibration source.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.142-149
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• 2009

This paper proposes and demonstrates novel flexible contact force sensing devices for 3-dimensional force measurement. To realize the sensor, polyimide and polydimethylsiloxane are used as a substrate, which makes it flexible. Thin-film metal strain gauges, which are incorporated into the polymer, are used for measuring the three-dimensional contact forces. The force sensor characteristics are evaluated against normal and shear load. The fabricated force sensor can measure normal loads up to 4N. The sensor output signals are saturated against load over 4N. Shear loads can be detected by different voltage drops in strain gauges. The device has no fragile structures; therefore, it can be used as a ground reaction force sensor for balance control in humanoid robots. Four force sensors are assembled and placed in the four corners of the robot's sole. By increasing bump dimensions, the force sensor can measure load up to 20N. When loads are exerted on the sole, the ground reaction force can be measured by these four sensors. The measured forces can be used in the balance control of biped locomotion system.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.61-75
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to develop interactive smart clothing based on visual and tactile sensitivities to promote non-verbal communication between people with hearing impairments. The study analyzed various cases of interactive smart clothing, different non-verbal communication tools, as well as results of user demand survey to extract essential factors. Then these factors were categorized into technology or design concept. The technological aspect of the development considered the following factors: the usability, detachability, purposiveness, and economic feasibility. The design aspect considered the following factors: the usability, detachability, formativeness and wearability. A prototype was designed considering the user's requirements. The developed prototype had sensors, Bluetooth technology, and gave access to wireless communication in order to enable non-verbal communication between people with hearing impairments.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.154-163
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• 2008

This paper presents the concept for the development of a pet-type robot with an emotion engine. The pet-type robot named KOBIE (KOala roBot with Intelligent Emotion) is able to interact with a person through touch. KOBIE is equipped with tactile sensors on the body for interaction with a person through recognition of his/her touching behaviors such as "Stroke","Tickle","Hit". We have covered KOBIE with synthetic fur fabric in order to can make him/her feel affection as well. KOBIE is able to also express an emotional status that varies according to the circumstances under which it is presented. The emotion engine of KOBIE's emotion expression system generates an emotional status in an emotion vector space which is associated with a predefined needs and mood models. In order to examine the feasibility of our emotion expression system, we verified a changing emotional status in our emotion vector space by a touching behavior. We specially examined the reaction of children who have interacted with three kind of pet-type robots: KOBIE, PARO, AIBO for roughly 10 minutes to investigate the children's preference for pet-type robots.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.266-273
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• 2017

In this research a medical palpation guidance system for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is proposed. Palpation is a useful tool for identifying a size and location of a lump during a surgery. However, conventional manual palpation is only available in open surgery, so there has been several researches about palpation assistant or guidance system for MIS. The previously developed systems are based on a pressure based or stiffness based approach. These previous approaches have some limitations in increasing complexity of the systems and lack of geometric information about the lump which is more important information for the lump removal than the stiffness information. We propose a palpation guidance system using a novel approach using contact pressure distribution. Since our approach gives the geometry information of the lump as well as the existence information, the operator can easily notice the currently identified lump region and the optimal position for the next palpation. The experiment results show that our approach can offer the geometry information of the lump correctly.

• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2017

We propose a face recognition and notification system that can transform visual face information into tactile signals in order to help visually impaired people. The proposed system consists of a glasses type camera, a mobile computer and an electronic cane. The glasses type camera captures the frontal view of the user, and sends this image to mobile computer. The mobile computer starts to search for human's face in the image when obstacles are detected by ultrasonic sensors. In a case that human's face is detected, the mobile computer identifies detected face. At this time, Adaboost and compressive sensing are used as a detector and a classifier, respectively. After the identification procedures of the detected face, the identified face information is sent to controller attached to a cane using a Bluetooth communication. The controller generates motor control signals using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) according to the recognized face labels. The vibration motor generates vibration patterns to inform the visually impaired person of the face recognition result. The experimental results of face recognition and notification system show that proposed system is helpful for visually impaired people by providing person identification results in front of him/her.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.156-166
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• 2012

Over the past 15 years productive BCI research programs have arisen. Current mainstream EEG electrode setups permit efficient recordings but most of electrodes has the disadventages of need for skin preparation and gel application to correctly record signals. The new gel-free probe was adapted for EEG recording and it can be fixed to the scalp with the micro needle without neuro-gel. It use standard EEG cap for wearing electrodes on scalp so it is compatible with standard EEG electrodes. A comparison between electrode characteristics is achieved by performing simultaneous recordings with the gel electrodes and gel-free probe placed in parallel scalp positions on the same anatomical regions. The quality of EEG recordings for all two types of experimental conditions is similar for gel-electrodes and gel-free probe. Subjects also reported not having special tactile sensations associated with wearing of gel-free probes. According to our results, it is expected that gel-free probe can be adapted to BCI, BMI(Brain Machine Interface), HMI(Human Machine Interface) because of its simple application and comfortable wearing process.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.378-393
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• 2022

As an emerging power generation technology, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have received increasing attention due to their boundless promise in energy harvesting and self-powered sensing applications. The recent rise of soft robotics has sparked widespread enthusiasm for developing flexible and soft sensors and actuators. TENGs have been regarded as promising power sources for driving actuators and self-powered sensors, providing a unique approach for the development of soft robots with soft sensors and actuators. In this review, TENG-based soft robots with different morphologies and different functions are introduced. Among them, the design of biomimetic soft robots that imitate the structure, surface morphology, material properties, and sensing/generating mechanisms of nature has greatly benefited in improving the performance of TENGs. In addition, various bionic soft robots have been well improved compared to previous driving methods due to the simple structure, self-powering characteristics, and tunable output of TENGs. Furthermore, we provide a comprehensive review of various studies within specific areas of TENG-enabled soft robotics applications. We first explore various recently developed TENG-based soft robots and a comparative analysis of various device structures, surface morphologies, and nature-inspired materials, and the resulting improvements in TENG performance. Various ubiquitous sensing principles and generation mechanisms used in nature and their analogous artificial TENG designs are demonstrated. Finally, biomimetic applications of TENG enabled in tactile displays as well as in wearable devices, artificial electronic skin and other devices are discussed. System designs, challenges and prospects of TENGs-based sensing and actuation devices in the practical application of soft robotics are analyzed.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.71-77
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• 2021

Screen Golf provides a more realistic interface to users by implementing sophisticated sensors and 3D graphics so that they can play golf in an environment almost identical to the actual golf course, to provide a sense of reality that goes beyond simply enjoying golf indoors. In addition, users who experienced this interface environment showed a tendency to feel the fun of golf more and become more immersed in golf. Therefore, it is most important to provide an effective realistic interface in screen golf. In this study, the meaning of screen golf as a tangible sport and various interface elements embodied in screen golf were summarized. Also the factors that enable users to feel reality and fun of actual golf to make users more immersed in screen golf were identified. For this, interface elements based on sensory elements were arranged in terms of visual, auditory, and tactile sense, and improvement plans and directions for providing effective sensory interfaces for screen golf were suggested through user FGI, targeting regular customers of Golfzone and KakaoVX screen golf, and in-depth interviews with experts. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that the course information including the yardage and the play situation-directed graphic are elements that make immersion in the visual aspect. In terms of tactile aspect, the fact that users actually use golf equipment, as well as the sense of existence of a physical interface that embodies various course environments and course setting appeared to be an important factor. In particular, in the auditory aspect, it was confirmed that providing customized services for each user through AI caddy implemented to resemble a actual caddy is the most effective way to immerse users in screen golf with greater fun and realism.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.245-256
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• 2018

This study considers application types and meanings of fashion engineering by analyzing CuteCircuit. The conclusions of this study are as follows. The application type of fashion engineering shown in CuteCircuit is first, electronic fashion, which attaches LED or WL on the surface of clothes to express the decorative function in clothes as optical light change, ultimately performing one-dimensional function. Second, interactive fashion is a medium in which clothing connects human beings with other human beings with sensors that can recognize the changes in tactile or movement with the wearer or with a light source that can visualize the emotional changes of the wearer. Third, scientific fashion has emerged as a new type of fashion in which new materials introduced in the field of engineering are fused with clothing to expand functionality and aesthetics. The meanings of fashion engineering in CuteCircuit is first, trying to conceptualize a new beauty as an open fashion that can freely change with the creation of a dual beauty by combining analog and digital sensibility. Second is the external representation of human psychological change or emotional exchange, which helps to form a consensus by understanding and exchanging emotions of different people. Third, reorganization of apparel pursuing integrated value appeared. Clothing, as a connection body in which the human body and the mechanical environment are combined with each other, is reestablished as a product of variable body that can embody an integrated value that includes various characteristics and can be diversified appropriately in any circumstance.