Design Optimization of UMPC Keypad Using Human Finger

인체 손가락 해석을 통한 UMPC 키패드 설계 최적화

As the mobile electronic product is getting slimmer and smaller, the necessity of keypad is being increased. But the possibility of mis-typing keypad is increased rapidly due to the integrated keypad in the small mobile product. The business division has not considered the methodology of keypad design essentially. In this paper, analysis method and design evaluation standard to reduce the mis-typing of UMPC(Ultra Mobile Personal Computer) is suggested. First, the finite element analysis model and the biomechanical human body model are implemented in order to simulate the exact contact characteristic between finger and keypad. The reliability of analysis model is guaranteed by the comparison of the contact pressure between analysis result and experiment result of the pressure sensor. The design optimization of key shape and layout is derived through the response surface method. The prototype model is produced with the optimized design of keypad, and then it verified the advanced function with user mis-typing detection test. The optimized keypad design reduced the mis-typing ratio from 35% of existing model to 75 of proposed model. If this paper is widely applied to not only UMPC but also the other electronic products, the emotional quality of all products could be improved considerably.