Multiple temperature control with detection of contacting points for rendering thermal sensation

Thermal sensation is important for communication tool and multimedia fields as an element of tactile sensation. This research focuses on thermal sensation, and aims to render the sensation spatially. Most of conventional studies present thermal sensation by directly contacting thermal device such as a Peltier device. In this case, it is difficult to get thermal information by the movements of their hands such as tracing. In this paper, a control method for rendering thermal sensation with the consecutive detection of contacting points is proposed. In order to consider temperature distribution of the system, a copper plate attached to the Peltier devices is regarded as a thermal system. A method to detect multiple contacting points is proposed, which uses the value of heat inflow estimated from heat inflow observer, and temperature control at the detected points is conducted. This method enables the system to render spatial thermal sensation in response to the movements of finger. Experimental results show the viability of the proposed control system.