An idea of oscillating alphabets through mechanical coupling

Abstract

Alphabets are considered to be the building block of words and many sentences. To scientifically explore the importance and application of a word through vibrations, the first step may be to formulate an idea of oscillating alphabets or letters. In this paper, we have carried out an effort to design oscillating letters through coupled mechanical structures based on theoretical and finite element analyses. Based on designed structures, we fabricated them using bulk microfabrication process. Subsequently, we performed experimental studies to demonstrate the vibrations of letters “A”, “B”, “C”, “Z”, “I”, “T”, “H” and “OM” suspended with clamped–clamped and clamped–free conditions. Finally, we demonstrated grouping of letters through mechanical coupling in a word “IITH” through two different designs to measure its vibration. For both designs, we measured frequencies and modes with clamped–clamped and clamped–free conditions, respectively. Based on the comparison of experimental results with numerical simulation, we found that fabricated structure with clamped–free condition is found to work better. Additionally, we observed that the mechanical coupling in the second design of IITH gives nearly uniform response of all the letters while the first design gives non-uniform motion. Consequently, further development in amplitude amplification of such kind of oscillating letters or words based on clamped–free conditions may lead to the development of a learning tool for millions of blind people who can perceive vibration from different alphabets.