Interactive generator: a self-powered haptic feedback device.

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Interactive Generator: A Self-Powered
Haptic Feedback Device
Akash Badshah1, Sidhant Gupta2, Gabe Cohn2, Nicolas Villar3, Steve Hodges3, Shwetak N Patel2
1Phillips Exeter Academy
Exeter, NH (USA)
akashbad@comcast.net Seattle, WA (USA)
{sidhant, gabecohn, shwetak}@uw.edu

ABSTRACT
We present Interactive Generator (InGen), a self-powered
wireless rotary input device capable of generating haptic or
force feedback without the need for any external power
source. Our approach uses a modified servomotor to per-
form three functions: (1) generating power for wireless
communication and embedded electronics, (2) sensing the
direction and speed of rotation, and (3) providing force
feedback during rotation. While InGen is rotating, the de-
vice is capable of providing the sensation of detents or
bumps, changes in stiffness, and abrupt stops using only
power that is harvested during interaction. We describe the
device in detail, demonstrate an initial ‘TV remote control’
application, and end with a discussion of our experiences
developing the prototype and application. To the best of our
knowledge, InGen is the first self-powered device, which
also provides haptic feedback during operation. More
broadly, this work demonstrates a new class of input sys-
tems that uses human-generated power to provide feedback
to the user and wirelessly communicate sensed information.
2University of Washington
UbiComp Lab, DUB Group
3Microsoft Research
Cambridge, UK
{nvillar, shodges}
@microsoft.com
Author Keywords
Self-powered, human-powered, force feedback, haptics,
tactile feedback, user interface device, remote control
ACM Classification Keywords
H.5.2 [Information interfaces and presentation]: User Inter-
faces. – Input devices and strategies
General Terms
Design, Experimentation
INTRODUCTION
Haptic feedback refers to the force experienced when an
object is touched or physically manipulated. It is an essen-
tial part of human interaction with physical objects, includ-
ing electronic devices. Notably it provides a useful interac-
tion channel independent of sound and vision, which are
predominant in today’s digital interfaces. Moreover, haptic
feedback serves as a primary input modality to convey in-
formation when auditory and visual feedback may not be
appropriate or available. However, with the exception of
vibrating cellphone alerts, computer-controlled haptic feed-
back (sometimes called force feedback) it is not yet ubiqui-
tous. Even so, other forms of haptic feedback, such as elec-
tronic control of temperature, stiffness and texture, are po-
tentially valuable.
Unfortunately, the electric motors, solenoids, or other elec-
tromechanical actuators employed in many force feedback
systems have significant power requirements. This seems
inevitable since haptic feedback ultimately relies on electri-
cal energy to affect physical movement. This in turn, limits
mobile applications where battery life is an important fac-
tor. As such, many of the haptic design schemes reported in
the HCI literature require external power supplies.
The design goals of incorporating haptic feedback and re-
ducing power consumption therefore seem inherently at
odds with each other. However, this is not the case. Our
system exploits unique properties of DC motors to provide
rotational haptic feedback with no external power require-
ments. We call this system the Interactive Generator, or
InGen (see Figure 1). InGen uses a modified servomotor, to
act simultaneously as (1) an input sensor, detecting the

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Figure 1: Interactive Generator is a self-powered general
purpose wireless controller capable of providing haptic feed-
back.

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speed and direction of rotation; (2) an actuator, providing
haptic control for feedback such as detents (or bumps) and
stiffness changes; and (3) an energy harvester, creating
enough power from the interaction to operate a wireless
communications link, sensory input, and force feedback
system. In combination, these three features enable the de-
vice to provide haptic feedback as the user interacts with it.
For example, in an application where turning a knob scrolls
through a media collection, a detent sensation might indi-
cate the movement between items in the list. Also, a change
in the knob’s rotational resistance from easily rotated to
stiff could convey nearing or reaching the end of a playlist.
RELATED WORK
There has been substantial prior research in ultra-low power
embedded devices which harvest energy in order to remove
the need for replacing or recharging batteries. Many of the-
se projects use human effort as a source of power, including
hand crank flashlights and portable radios. In these devices
a geared dynamo produces energy, which is stored using a
capacitor or rechargeable battery, and can be used later to
power the device [3]. InGen is different because the pro-
cesses of power generation and device operation are tightly
coupled into one action. Similar coupling has previously
been explored by using piezo-electric transducers in skis
and snowboards for active speed dampening [2]. Others
have also looked at using a person’s action for both harvest-
ing and sensing [6]. Our work differentiates itself because
we incorporate a third dimension – generating output in the
form of haptic feedback.
Related to InGen’s power harvesting approach is the Pep-
permill controller [7], which shows how a user interface
device can source power from the physical effort required
to interact with it. InGen takes this approach further by in-
corporating a mechanism that produces haptic feedback by
periodically stiffening the rotary input. This is done using
the same DC motor that harvests the power required to op-
erate the device, by selectively shorting its two terminals.
The notion of stiffening (or braking) a motor in this way is
a common technique that is widely used in control systems
and robotics [5]. However, the approach described in this
paper accomplishes this without losing any of the stored
energy so that the device stays powered even while such
feedback is being generated.
In addition, detents and varying stiffness have been repro-
duced in several previous rotary systems, including [4].
However, to our knowledge there has been little work in the
HCI community on generating these feedback patterns us-
ing motor shorting in a battery-less haptic system.
THE INTERACTIVE GENERATOR
InGen is a general-purpose handheld controller with two
distinct sections that rotate relative to each other. A user
holds one section in one hand while using the other hand to
rotate the section relative to the first. As Figure 1 shows,
the two sections are identical so that the device can be op-
erated in either orientation. The two sections are connected
with a modified servomotor. When a user turns the knob,
the motor simultaneously generates power for the device
and controls the stiffness with which the device may be
rotated. In addition, when rotating the knob the user also
turns a potentiometer, which we use to record the speed and
direction of rotation with higher precision than what sens-
ing only the motor could provide.
Implementation Overview
InGen has three main subsystems: haptic feedback, power
generation, and sensing/communication. Figure 2 shows the
various components that make up InGen.
Central to both the haptic subsystem and power generation
is the geared, permanent magnet DC motor that is part of
the Hi-Tec HS-625MG servomotor (see M, in Figure 3). A
property of DC motors is that when their armature is rotated
they act as generators, creating a potential difference across
their terminals. The magnitude of this potential difference is
directly proportional to the rate at which the armature is
rotated (in rotations per minute or RPM), the strength of the
magnets, and the number of turns on the armature. The last
two parameters increase the cost and the size of the motor.
As such, we chose to maximize RPM by using a motor with
a reducing gear head.
The servomotor in InGen has a 240:1 gear ratio (for each
turn of the InGen device, the motor shaft turns 240 times),
which we found to give a good balance between ease of
rotation, and effectiveness of power generation and braking.
The internal resistance of the motor is 3.3 Ω that generates
around 4.2 V when the motor is turned at a rate of 1 revolu-
tion per second (or 60 RPM). The MG variant has a metal
gearbox, which we found to be essential – the plastic gear-
box common to many servomotors are very fragile to fast
rotations.
Generating the Haptic Feedback
As mentioned earlier, InGen uses the inherent property of
dynamic motor braking by shorting. If the terminals of a
DC motor are short-circuited while the motor’s armature is
rotated, the current generated by the turning motor acts to
power the motor in the opposite direction. Under such con-
ditions, the motor still turns but its stiffness greatly increas-
es–as if a brake were being applied. The perceived increase

Figure 2: The internal components of Interactive Generator.

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in resistance felt by the user is magnified because of the
torque amplification effect of using a reducing gear head.
By programmatically braking and releasing the motor, we
are able to dynamically generate a variety of haptic sensa-
tions. When the braking is continuous, the device is hardest
to turn – it is in its most-stiff state. If the braking is duty
cycled at a suitably high frequency, the feedback can be
varied continuously from very stiff to freely rotating. Brak-
ing momentarily as a user interacts is perceived as a detent
or bump that can, for example, be used to indicate an item
of interest as the user navigates an interface.
Digital braking control of the motor is accomplished using
two IRLD024PBF N-channel MOSFETs with built-in pro-
tection diodes, which have their gates connected to the digi-
tal output pins of a microcontroller (see Q1 and Q2 in Fig-
ure 3). When either of the gates is driven high the drain-
source channel conducts. If the motor terminal connected to
the Q1 drain, for example, is at a higher potential (i.e. when
the motor is turned in a particular direction), the motor is
shorted to ground through the protection diode in Q2.
Two transistors are used, so that haptic feedback for each
rotational direction can be controlled independently. For
example, the motor can simultaneously be stiff to turn in
the one direction while being easy to turn in the other direc-
tion (i.e., when one transistor is on and the other is off).
With this configuration, it is possible to produce a variety
of interesting sensations by simply changing the digital
control signals. The microcontroller drives the control pins
via pulse width modulation (PWM), allowing the stiffness
perceived by a user to vary anywhere between very stiff and
easy-to-turn. In the current prototype, we have implemented
three different types of haptic feedback: detents, static stiff-
ness, and dynamic stiffness. A detent can be provided by
rapidly braking and un-braking the motor, creating the im-
pression of a bump as the user turns the motor. Static stiff-
ness can be achieved by setting the duty cycle of a pin to a
specific level and maintaining it, making the motor harder
or easier to turn for the user. Dynamic stiffness is produced
by gradually reducing or increasing the duty cycle of brak-
ing to create an impression that the motor is becoming
harder or easier to turn.
Power Harvesting
InGen uses a rectifier bridge followed by an LT3008 ad-
justable low-dropout linear regulator to produce a stable
output voltage for the microcontroller at 2.5 V (see Figure
3). However, providing haptic feedback by shorting the
motor causes a disruption in power (i.e., the power is di-
verted to braking the motor instead of powering the micro-
controller). To overcome this, we used high energy density
double layer capacitors (also known as supercaps) for pow-
er storage in the power harvesting circuitry (see C1 and C2
in Figure 3). This keeps a steady voltage supply to the cir-
cuitry even when force feedback is being applied.
Though the addition of these storage capacitors helps to
maintain power, it also increases start-up latency because
voltage must be accumulated before it is sufficient to power
the device. That is, when the system is completely drained
of power, the user needs to turn the knob for about one se-
cond before the system starts functioning. However, the
higher capacitance allows the device to stay powered for
five to six seconds even if there is no interaction.
We further reduce startup latency by using a MAX8211
voltage monitoring IC (see V Monitor Figure 3). This IC
switches off all power to the microcontroller and the rest of
the circuitry until there is enough power in the storage ca-
pacitors to turn on all of the hardware for a substantial
amount of time. Once cut-off, the residual power in the
capacitors decays over a number of hours (at least 5 hours
and as much as 2 days depending on the charge on the de-
vice). When the device is used again it wakes up in less
than 300 ms, because the voltage stays on the supercaps.
Thus, the device becomes responsive almost instantaneous-
ly. We found that if the user interacts with it for four to five
seconds the circuitry can remain powered for up to five to
six seconds even after the interaction stops. After the initial
interaction, the device can be interacted with instantaneous-
ly for a number of hours.
In this way, the startup latency is a concern only when the
device is cold started. That is, the device has not been in-
teracted with for a significant period, causing the storage
capacitors to discharge completely. On other occasions such
as when the device is used after a few hours of inactivity,
the residual power in the capacitors plus the generated
power are enough to trigger the voltage monitoring IC to
turn the system on very shortly after interaction starts.
Sensing and Wireless Communication
The direction and the rate of rotation can be sensed using
the DC motor by monitoring the polarity and magnitude of
the voltage it produces [7]. However, the InGen has an Alps
RDC803001A dual-wiper potentiometer integrated with the
servomotor for sensing rotation more precisely. Using a
dual-wiper device instead of the single-wiper variant
(which is standard in servomotors) provides accurate posi-
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Figure 3: The InGen circuit regulates the generated power,
controls motor braking (feedback), and powers the device.

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tion information for the full 360° of operation. The amount
of power consumed by the potentiometer is insignificant
compared to other components such as the wireless link.
InGen’s circuitry consumes on an average 52mW (104mW
when wireless is active and 21mW otherwise).
The TI eZ430-RF2500 platform with a MSP430 microcon-
troller and integrated CC2500 radio communications was
chosen primarily on the basis of low power requirements
and ease of use (see RF and MCU in Figure 3). We make
use of the optimized, low-power RF protocol stack called
SimpliciTI for all wireless communication. To minimize
power consumption, the transmit radio is only turned on
briefly every 50 ms to beacon the speed and direction of
interaction to the PC. The PC has a matching microcontrol-
ler and radio that is always on. To ensure that InGen re-
ceives commands sent from the PC, every 5th wake up cycle
(every 250 ms), the microcontroller turns on its receiver
radio and polls for command messages. A pending com-
mand is then executed before going into a low power mode
again. More experimentation needs to be done to establish
the ideal rate of polling, but we found that 250 ms provides
a good tradeoff between interactivity and “device on” time.
EXPERIENCES WITH AN INITIAL APPLICATION
We have built a simple application to demonstrate the feed-
back characteristics of our prototype InGen device. This is a
scrolling menu similar to a television channel guide. The
rotational input can be used to scroll forward or backwards
through a list of channels. As each item in the list is passed,
the user feels a short detent to indicate this. On approaching
either end of the list, the knob offers maximum resistance in
that direction to indicate the end.
DISCUSSION AND FUTURE WORK
In this paper, we have described a number of key contribu-
tions with the development of InGen: the use of a single
transducer to generate power and provide force feedback;
we have detailed a fully functional handheld device that
combines these characteristics with additional sensing and
wireless communication; and the insights gained from
building the device and using it in a simple ‘TV remote
control’ application.
To gather some initial feedback on InGen, we conducted an
informal evaluation, where we allowed various users to
explore the use of InGen with our television channel guide
application. We found that almost everyone was able to
start up the device in a just a single rotation (< 1 sec). The
start up latency did not seem to pose a problem for anyone
as we had initially expected. If some users were turning the
device too slowly to turn on the device, they often gradually
increased their speed as a natural reaction.
The overall feedback on the haptic sensation generated by
InGen was largely positive. Most indicated that they were
able to easily discern the change in stiffness at the ends of
the list and the detents between the channel items. Howev-
er, one problem we observed was that having too many
detents during the scrolling task tends to slow down the
rotational momentum for some people and can eventually
cause InGen to run out of power too soon. One solution is
to reduce the time duration of the detent (of course, this
could make the haptic feedback imperceptible). The other is
to design the user interface so that the detent occurs farther
apart (i.e., making the gap between items larger) or reserv-
ing the detent feedback for just special indicators in the list.
More broadly, we can imagine designing for interactions
with these limitations in mind and creating interfaces that
encourage more rotation.
There are still some areas of improvement for future work.
Although the current prototype has modest power require-
ments, reducing consumption would allow the device to
operate longer without rotation. This could be accomplished
by employing a radio technology that has lower peak pow-
er. Another area of future exploration is the integration of
additional sensors, such as an accelerometer which can re-
port the orientation in which the device is being operated,
as well as push buttons that can provide additional input
capabilities for an application. Similarly, other forms of
output such as sound generation, which is typically low-
power, merit investigation. The combination of haptic and
audible feedback has been found to be quite powerful, es-
pecially in eyes-free applications [1]. We would also like to
explore different form factors than the one presented in this
paper. In some cases a linear version of InGen, based on an
actuated mixing-desk fader, might be more appropriate than
the rotary system we have built to date. We would also like
to explore more applications, including gaming – imagine a
fishing game where the player feels their catch struggling as
it is wound in. One can also imagine using InGen to indi-
cate snap to grid actions in a user interface. Overall, we
believe that InGen provides a start for a new class of bat-
tery-less interaction devices that leverage human-generated
power for both input and haptic feedback.
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