Method and apparatus for haptic control

摘要

The present invention provides remote interfacing utilizing haptic technology. In a first aspect there is provided a haptic grasping interface comprising a plurality of finger interaction points, with actuators connected at one end to an actuator control mechanism. The mechanism is mounted remotely from the grasping interface, inverse to the finger interaction points, for manipulation of these points. The grasping points comprise pulleys which route the actuators through a cable tension and transmission system. A second aspect provides haptic augmentation to an operator, which indicates to the operator the state of a control input to a controlled device. A third aspect provides a means of simulating motion where haptic feedback is provided to a user in correspondence with the movement of the user within a pod environment.

主权项

1. A method of providing force distribution to a first and at least one second user contact points of a haptic interface, the method comprising the steps of:
providing the haptic interface with a first and at least one second pulleys having respective arm members supporting the first and at least one second user contact points for bi-directional motion about the respective pulley axes, the first and the at least one second user contact points being radially displaced from the respective pulley axes; remotely coupling an actuator drive and control device comprising a first and at least one second actuators in operative association with a haptic device by way of at least one sheathed actuator cable extending between each actuator and the haptic interface; actuating the first and the at least one second actuators independently of each other by the actuator drive and control device; distributing force from the first and the at least one second actuators by way of the each corresponding at least one sheathed actuator cable to the first and the at least one second user contact points of the haptic interface, respectively.