Hybrid Laminate for Haptic Input Device with Integrated Signal Processing

• Main Authors: René Schmidt, Alexander Graf, Ricardo Decker, Verena Kräusel, Wolfram Hardt, Dirk Landgrebe, Lothar Kroll
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-07-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: hybrid laminate; piezoceramic compound; sensor function; sheet metal forming; impact detection
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/8/8/1261

Achieving lightweight construction through only material substitution does not realize the full potential of producing a lightweight material, hence, it is no longer sufficient. Weight-saving goals are best achieved through additional function integration. In order to implement this premise for mass production, a manufacturing process for joining and forming hybrid laminates using a new tool concept is presented. All materials used are widely producible and processable. The manufactured cover of an automotive center console serves to demonstrate a human interface device with impact detection and action execution. This is only possible through a machine learning system, which is implemented on a small—and thus space- and energy-saving—embedded system. The measurement results confirm the objective and show that localization was sufficiently accurate.