A haptic device using flexible sheet is developed. This device elongates a rubber sheet with four servo motors in parallel. Controlling their motor angles varies softness of the sheet: stretched sheet feels hard, and loose sheet feels soft. Hence a user can feel different softness of virtual objects when he pushes the sheet directly with his finger. We apply this device to haptic feedback of real soft objects. The system consists of the haptic device and a robot with a pressure sensing device. This sensing device is a rubber hemisphere filled with air. The internal pressure is measured when the hemisphere is pressed against an object. First a user pushes the center of the sheet. The movement of the side edge of the sheet is observed with a close-up camera, and the user's pushing pressure on the sheet is estimated. Next the robot pushes a target object so that its pushing pressure on the object, which is measured with the pressure sensing device, may coincide with the user's pushing pressure on the sheet. At the same time, the softness of the object is estimated from the measured pushing pressure on the object and the indentation of the object, which is given by the robot's movement. Then the haptic device controls the motor angles so that the sheet's softness may be equal to the object's softness. The system repeats this process in real time. In this way the user feels the same softness as the real object by pushing the sheet. As an experimental result, the developed haptic device can imitate softness of a real stuffed doll.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.