Tactilus Sensor System Enables Body Mapping For Ergonomic/Efficient Products

Article: Desktop Engineering

Pressure body mapping is helping engineers develop products that are not only more ergonomic but also less expensive to produce. In these applications, sensors measure the force exerted by the human body as it touci1es another surface. The data is converted into color-coded body maps that correspond to different degrees of pressure. Anned with this knowledge, designers modify products for even distributions of pressure on the human body.

tactilus sytem
Tactilus® Body Mapping Sysyem

Sensor Products’ Tactilus® body-mapping system is essentially an “electronic skin.” The system consists of a sensing element, signal conditiOning electronics, and analysis software.

A major consumer toothpaste manufacturer enlisted Sensor Products to help develop tubes that dispensed toothpaste within certain force parameters, with less costly material construction. The manufacturer assembled a focus group to test different types of prototype packaging with Tactilus. The project established a baseline that packaging engineers could use in the future.