Control and instrumention equipment for a dexterous haptic interface

触觉设备是双向人机界面，允许用户在机器人操纵器的帮助下触摸和操纵远程和/或不可访问环境中的物体。在虚拟现实应用中，用户可以使用触觉界面与虚拟对象和环境进行交互。触觉设备与其他人机界面的区别在于它们能够向用户提供力反馈。现有的触觉界面受限于通过旋钮、触针和顶针万向等固定界面进行的单接触点反馈。然而，研究者最近开发的一项技术使多指抓取和操纵真实或虚拟物体，更真实地反映了人类的触觉体验。这种灵巧的触觉渲染能力对于触觉界面在机器人辅助外科和远程外科、医疗程序训练模拟、空间遥控机器人、计算机辅助设计和虚拟原型等广泛应用中的成功至关重要。这项研究将探索这些应用中人机协调的先进控制方法。

Haptic devices are bi-directional human-to-machine interfaces that allow users to touch and manipulate objects in remote and/or inaccessible environments with the aid of robotic manipulators. In virtual reality applications, users can employ haptic interfaces to interact with virtual objects and environments.  What differentiates haptic devices from other human-to-machine interfaces is their ability to provide force feedback to the user. Existing haptic interfaces are limited by their single-contact-point feedback through fixed interfaces such as knobs, styli, and thimble gimbals. However, a recently developed technology by the investigator enables multi-finger grasping and manipulation of real or virtual objects, a more realistic reflection of human haptic experience. Such dexterous haptic rendering ability is essential to the success of haptic interfaces in a wide range of applications including robotic-assisted surgery and telesurgery, training simulation of medical procedures, space telerobotics, computer-aided-design and virtual prototyping. The research enabled by this grant will explore advanced control methods for human-machine coordination in these applications.