The Rutgers Master II-ND glove is a haptic interface designed for dextrous interactions with virtual environments. The glove provides force feedback up to 16 N each to the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingertips. It uses custom pneumatic actuators arranged in a direct-drive configuration in the palm. Unlike commercial haptic gloves, the direct-drive actuators make unnecessary cables and pulleys, resulting in a more compact and lighter structure. The force-feedback structure also serves as position measuring exoskeleton, by integrating noncontact Hall-effect and infrared sensors. The glove is connected to a haptic-control interface that reads its sensors and servos its actuators. The interface has pneumatic servovalves, signal conditioning electronics, A/D/A boards, power supply and an imbedded Pentium PC. This distributed computing assures much faster control bandwidth than would otherwise be possible. Communication with the host PC is done over an RS232 line. Comparative data with the Cyber-Grasp commercial haptic glove is presented.

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Категория: Научные статьи | Нет комментариев »

This paper presents a short review of the history surrounding the development of haptic feedback systems, from early manipulators and telerobots, used in the nuclear and subsea industries, to today’s impressive desktop devices, used to support real-time interaction with 3D visual simulations, or Virtual Reality. Four examples of recent VR projects are described, illustrating the use of haptic feedback in ceramics, aerospace, surgical and defence applications. These examples serve to illustrate the premise that haptic feedback systems have evolved much faster than their visual display counterparts and are, today, delivering impressive peripheral devices that are truly usable by non-specialist users of computing technology.

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Категория: Научные статьи | Нет комментариев »

The development of actuators with enhanced capabilities is critical to the achievement of sensory feedback systems for intuitive, real time human operations of telerobotic systems. The objective of this research project is to continue development of new actuators using active materials which will enhance the capabilities of dexterous, exoskeletal feedback systems for telerobotic applica-tions. In Phase I, feasibility of novel Terfenol-D driven actuators was demonstrated. The new actuators are efficient, responsive, small and exert relatively high forces. The actuators provide proportional forces and are easily interfaced with digital electronics because of low voltage requirements. Phase II will pursue advanced development of proportional force resist ive brake actuators and active linear actuators. The actuator designs will be optimized, fabricated and integrated into a digitally controllable exoskeleton demonstration test bed.

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Категория: Мехи | Нет комментариев »

A device operable to supply a force feedback to a physiological unit to besed as an advanced interface for machines and computers, including an exoskeleton which includes kinematic elements articulated about articulation axes arranged coincident with or in close proximity to the physiological axes of the physiological unit such as, for example, the flexion-extension axes of the phalanges of the fingers of a hand of an operator. A series of electrical actuators controls the degree of tension on traction cables applying a force feedback to the kinematic elements and consequently to the physiological unit, so as to simulate an interaction between the operator and a virtual object. The device includes position sensors for detecting the configuration of the physiological unit and force sensors for measuring the strength of the force locally applied thereto by the actuators controlled by a processing system.

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Theoretical control algorithms are developed and an experimental system is described for 6-dof kinesthetic force/moment feedback to a human operator from a remote system. The remote system is a common six-axis slave manipulator with a force/torque sensor, while the haptic interface is a unique, cable-driven, seven-axis, force/moment-reflecting exoskeleton. The exoskeleton is used for input when motion commands are sent to the robot and for output when force/moment wrenches of contact are reflected to the human operator. This system exists at Wright-Patterson AFB. The same techniques are applicable to a virtual environment with physics models and general haptic interfaces.

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