Haptic Interfaces

 

Haptic interfaces are devices that provide force and tactile feedback to the user as they interact with objects in a computer-generated virtual world.  With the help of such devices and by wearing a head-mounted display and position sensors, one can step inside a computer-generated virtual world to interact with virtual objects. For example, we can “hold” two digital parts (CAD models) in our hands and try to assemble them while feeling the interaction forces through the haptic interface. Such a system could enable evaluation of designs thoroughly before a physical prototype is manufactured leading to reduced time to market and cost. Other uses for haptics have been realized in areas of training, such as medical students practicing virtual surgery, soldiers performing a simulated military operation, in minimally invasive robotic surgery, teleoperated robots, prosthetics and robotic neuro-rehabilitation.

Our research effort has been focused on development of actuators and portable haptic devices.  Please click the links on the left to explore some of our projects.

 

U.S. Patents

• Magnetorheological Devices and Associated Control Methods, U.S. Patent 9,093,214 B2, July 28, 2015.

• Linear MR-Brake as a High Force and Low Off-state Friction Actuator, U.S. Patent 9,109,650 B2, August 18, 2015.

 

Selected Publications 

• “AirGlove: A force feedback device for virtual reality,” Proceedings of Telemanipulation and Telepresence Technologies VIII, SPIE Conference, Proc. SPIE vol. 4570, pp. 69-77, Boston, MA, October 2001.

• “Design of a haptic device for weight sensation in virtual environments,” Proceedings of DETC’02: ASME 2002 Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, October 2, 2002, Montreal, Canada.

• “Weight sensation in virtual environments using a haptic device with air jets,” ASME Transactions, Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering, vol. 3, no. 2, June 2003.

• “Magnetorheological fluid brake for a force feedback glove for virtual environments,” Proceedings of IDETC/CIE 2005: ASME 2005 Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, September 2005, Long Beach, California.

• “AFM-based nanomanipulator with haptic interface,” Proceedings of EuroHaptics 2006, July 2006, Paris, France.

• “Finger mechanism of a haptic glove for force feedback in virtual environments,” Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition , November, Seattle, WA, 2007.

• “Haptic glove with MR-brakes for Virtual Reality,” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 14, no. 5, October 2009.

• “Haptic gloves with compact finger mechanism using active and passive actuation,” Proceedings of the ASME 2009 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference IDETC/CIE 2009 , San Diego, CA, 2009 .

• “Haptic gloves with compact finger mechanism using active and passive actuation,” Proceedings of the ASME 2009 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference IDETC/CIE 2009 , San Diego, CA, 2009 .

• “Compact MR-brake with serpentine flux path for haptics applications,” Third Joint Eurohaptics Conference and Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems Salt Lake City, UT, 2009.

• “Haptic Glove with MR-brakes for distributed finger force feedback,” Presence, MIT Press , vol. 18, no. 6, December 2009.

• “Spherical brake with MR fluid as a multi degree of freedom actuator for haptics,” Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures , vol. 20, pp. 2149-2160, December 2009.

• ” Serpentine Flux Path for High Torque MRF Brakes in Haptics Applications,” Mechatronics , vol. 20, pp. 377-383, February 2010.

• ” Characterization of Nintendo Wii remote for 3D tracking in virtual reality,” ASME 2010 World Conference on Innovative Virtual Reality, WINVR 2010, Ames, Iowa, May 2010.
  

• “Spherical MR-brake with Nintendo Wii Sensors for Haptics,”  Proceedings of EuroHaptics 2010, Amsterdam, July 2010.
  

• “Optimum Design of 6R Passive Haptic Robotic Arm for Implant Surgery,” Proceedings of EuroHaptics 2010, Amsterdam, Holland, July 2010.

• “Mechanical brake design for passive haptic device,” Proceedings of 2011 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics, ICAR2011, Tallinn, Estonia, June 2011.