A reconfigurable, tendon-based haptic interface for research into human-environment interactions

E-ISSN： 1469-8668|31|3|441-453

ISSN： 0263-5747

Source： Robotica, Vol.31, Iss.3, 2013-05, pp. : 441-453

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Human reaction to external stimuli can be investigated in a comprehensive way by using a versatile virtual-reality setup involving multiple display technologies. It is apparent that versatility remains a main challenge when human reactions are examined through the use of haptic interfaces as the interfaces must be able to cope with the entire range of diverse movements and forces/torques a human subject produces. To address the versatility challenge, we have developed a large-scale reconfigurable tendon-based haptic interface which can be adapted to a large variety of task dynamics and is integrated into a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). To prove the versatility of the haptic interface, two tasks, incorporating once the force and once the velocity extrema of a human subject's extremities, were implemented: a simulator with 3-DOF highly dynamic force feedback and a 3-DOF setup optimized to perform dynamic movements. In addition, a 6-DOF platform capable of lifting a human subject off the ground was realized. For these three applications, a position controller was implemented, adapted to each task, and tested. In the controller tests with highly different, task-specific trajectories, the three robot configurations fulfilled the demands on the application-specific accuracy which illustrates and confirms the versatility of the developed haptic interface.