Increasing force transmissibility for tactile feedback interface devices

摘要

Method and apparatus for increasing the transmissibility of forces produced by an actuator on a manipulandum. A haptic device, coupled to a host computer, outputs tactile sensations to a user based on interactions and events occurring in a displayed graphical environment. An actuator produces forces and a compliant suspension couples the actuator to the manipulandum. A compliance of the suspension is configured such that the suspension magnifies the forces for a particular frequency range of the forces. The magnified forces are transmitted to the manipulandum to be felt by the user.

主权项

1. A device comprising:
a housing; an actuator bracket coupled to an interior of the housing; a processor configured to determine a control signal at least in part by mapping a kinesthetic haptic command to an inertial tactile command, the kinesthetic haptic command configured to cause a kinesthetic haptic actuator to output a kinesthetic haptic effect and the inertial tactile command configured to cause an inertial tactile actuator to output an inertial tactile haptic effect, wherein the control signal has a predetermined frequency that is less than or equal to a resonance frequency of at least one elastic member; an actuator in electrical communication with the processor and coupled to the actuator bracket via the at least one elastic member, wherein the actuator is suspended with respect to the actuator bracket, the actuator having a movable mass coupled to a motor, wherein, responsive to the control signal, the motor is configured to cause the mass to move between a first position and a second position at the predetermined frequency to output a haptic effect to the at least one elastic member, wherein the resonance frequency of the at least one elastic member is configured to cause the at least one elastic member to magnify the amplitude of the haptic effect at the predetermined frequency and to apply the magnified haptic effect to the housing through the actuator bracket, the magnified haptic effect having a greater amplitude than the haptic effect output by the actuator; and a damper coupled between the actuator and the housing, the damper configured to tune the characteristics of the magnified haptic effect applied to the housing by the at least one elastic member.