A framework for the classification of dexterous haptic interfaces based on the identification of the most frequently used hand contact areas

Abstract

Haptic interfaces are purposed for the simulation of physical interactions with a virtual environment in a realistic way. Their design is often based on a compromise between the interaction capabilities and mechanical design complexity. This paper is aimed at providing a methodology that helps tuning this trade-off. A survey of both manipulation and exploration taxonomies allows the identification of elementary hand contact areas with their associated frequency of use. The relative importance of these areas is illustrated by the building of an interaction map for the hand. Some combinations of these elementary areas, with their frequency of use, are then organised into a graphical tree as a function of their complexity. This tree allows to review some existing devices and to propose some guidelines for improved designs.

A Methodology for early design specifications of robotic grippers

“…The next step consists in identifying, for each interaction pattern, the hand-object contact area. For standard grasps types and exploratory movements, we refined the characterization of the contact areas compared to [15], [16] and [17]. We took in hand objects representative of the different usual grasps and we tried to insert a thin metal sheet between the hand and the object.…”

Plex

“…It is also noticeable that pressure sensors do not trigger each other during operation. 3 ELASTOSIL from Wacker Ltd.…”

“…The hand is a key to demonstrate the mobile interactions and the most frequent interaction areas in hand are thumb and index finger [3]. There are various commercial products 1,2 as well as state-of-art research using fingers for precise mobile interaction [2].…”