What's the big deal? Well the LRA (Linear Resonant Actuator) is rumored to have a better feel for haptic feedback devices. When your phone vibrates, or the screen clicks or taps or buzzes when you touch it - that's an LRA.
An LRA acts like a speaker. When current is applied, a weight moves back and forth in a linear motion. Like a speaker, this allows you to create complex waveforms that can be felt kind of like you hear waveforms in music.
Compared to a regular ERM (Eccentric Rotating Mass) vibrator, LRAs provide a wider range of sensations. That's why they're used for tactile feedback in all your phones.
You can find standard ERMs everywhere, from the tiny disk shaped motors in a bristlebot, to the huge versions in your back massager. They are cheap, readily available and easy to work with. But they have a very limited vocabulary. All you can really do is adjust the speed and duration. Even with modern controllers, you can't use ERMs for sophisticated feedback tasks.
By contrast, LRAs are difficult to source and many use connector sizes I'm not comfortable working with. You also need to be either a serious programmer or buy a specialty controller board to use them. I do own one of those controller boards, a haptic feedback driver, so I can test my newly found vibe as soon as I figure out how to tweak the registers. Luckily, this motor is also large enough and uses connectors that I can see without a magnifying glass.
If I get it working without blowing anything up, I will certainly post my experiences here.
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