Generating mechanical force in accoradance with sensor data by electromagnetically actuating a compliant mechanism

Abstract

A device for generating forces or motions in accordance with sensor data. The device includes one or more compliant mechanism units and an electromagnetic actuator configured to actuate each compliant mechanism unit. By actuating a compliant mechanism unit using an electromagnetic actuator, the device can generate a force or motion in accordance with received sensor data using hardware components that are much smaller than the servo motors used in existing systems. In various embodiments, the device may actuate one or more compliant mechanism units to control the shape of a haptic meta-surface, activate and deactivate microswitches, open and close microfluidic channels, etc. In various embodiments, the device may actuate one or more compliant mechanism units in accordance with pixel values extracted from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data, two-dimensional image data, or other sensor data.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.