The Hapticlabs Satellite comes with 5 ports of 4 different types.
The USB symbol on the casing indicates the position of the female USB-C port. The Hapticlabs Satellite will communicate through this port to your computer and Hapticlabs Studio. Connect a USB cable to this port and to your computer. You can connect it to a USB-A or a USB-C port on your computer. A yellow LED on the Hapticlabs Satellite will light up once the satellite receives power.
It is possible to power the Hapticlabs Satellite through the USB-C port even without communication to Hapticlabs Studio, e.g. by connecting it to a powerbank. In this case, you can still play back tracks that you previously saved to the Hapticlabs Satellite by using the touch sensor or the external triggers.
Make sure to provide enough power to the satellite: The satellite can draw up to 600 mA from a USB connection (5 V) on full power. Choose a USB port that can supply enough power.
There are two yellow marked output channels labeled “A” and “B”. Any electromagnetic actuator can be attached. We specifically support 3 types of actuators:
These actuators are typically relatively low in their power demand. This is achieved by the mechanical design which includes a spring to temporarily store energy and retain it in the system. By driving the LRA at its natural frequency, it can oscillate with minimal energy loss. This enables the low power requirements.
However, when driving LRAs at frequencies that are significantly different to their natural frequency, the intensity of the resulting haptic signal typically drops dramatically and the power demand increases considerably. For that reason, LRAs are limited in their achievable frequency range.
See our knowledge base for more information.
ERMs have a relatively simple working principle: a mass is attached to a motor, with an offset to the rotating axis. Whenever the motor spins, it swings the mass around, which creates oscillating forces that are perceived as vibration.
This type of actuator is relatively limited in its feature set: The intensity and frequency of its vibrations are inherently coupled and can therefore not be controlled independently.
Voice coil type actuators are based on the same principle that acoustic speakers work with: a mass is dynamically positioned through electromagnetic actuation to create a haptic signal.
Similar to acoustic speakers, these actuators support a wide range of different frequencies and amplitudes and are therefore the most versatile choice. Their drawbacks include a relatively high power demand and control complexity.
If you are not sure which kind of actuator you have at hand, look for a label if it’s a Hapticlabs product or assume it’s a voice coil. In Hapticlabs Studio, you can then test different settings and see which works best for you.