Comparison of 3D printed vibro-tactile actuator with permanent magnet only and standard vibro-actuator for prosthetic feedback devices

According to WHO, around a billion people with disabilities live in the world. About one third of these people are people with mobility or movements impairments. For most of these people, high-precision hand prostheses such as bebeonics or touchebonus are very expensive. Prosthetics controlled from the nervous system directly exist only as prototypes. All of the above devices provide only visual feedback to the user. To reduce the load on the user's vision, it was decided to create a system with a tactile vibration feedback. To test such a system, a test bench with vibration actuators was created. The main condition for the work of the vibration actuator is the possibility of adjusting the frequency and intensity of vibration in a wide range. The work described in this paper is a comparison between the vibration actuators: made at the factory and printed on a 3d printer. Vibration actuators were compared according to static and dynamic parameters. Static parameters: ratio of current and force, ratio of power consumption and power. Dynamic parameters: amplitude-frequency characteristic of acceleration. As a result, a vibro-actuator printed on a 3d printer has lower static parameters than the one factory produced, but works on a wider frequency range. As a result, the actuator printed on the 3d printer is a more acceptable solution for prosthetic bench application.