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Regular user interface screens can display dense and detailed information to human users but miss out on providing somatosensory stimuli that take full advantage of human spatial cognition. Therefore, the development of new haptic displays can strengthen human-machine communication by augmenting visual communication with tactile stimulation needed to transform information from digital to spatial/physical environments. Shape-changing interfaces, such as pin arrays and robotic surfaces, are one method for providing this spatial dimension of feedback; however, these displays are often either limited in maximum extension or require bulky mechanical components. In this paper, we present a compact pneumatically actuated soft growing pin for inflatable haptic interfaces. Each pin consists of a rigid, air-tight chamber, an inflatable fabric pin, and a passive spring-actuated reel mechanism. The device behavior was experimentally characterized, showing extension to 18.5 cm with relatively low pressure input (1.75 psi, 12.01 kPa), and the behavior was compared to the mathematical model of soft growing robots. The results showed that the extension of the soft pin can be accurately modeled and controlled using pressure as input. Finally, we demonstrate the feasibility of implementing individually actuated soft growing pins to create an inflatable haptic surface.
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An Open-Source Framework for Rapid Development of Interactive Soft-Body Simulations for Real-Time Training
We present an open-source framework that provides a low barrier to entry for real-time simulation, visualization, and interactive manipulation of user-specifiable soft-bodies, environments, and robots (using a human-readable front-end interface). The simulated soft-bodies can be interacted by a variety of input interface devices including commercially available haptic devices, game controllers, and the Master Tele-Manipulators (MTMs) of the da Vinci Research Kit (dVRK) with real-time haptic feedback. We propose this framework for carrying out multi-user training, user-studies, and improving the control strategies for manipulation problems. In this paper, we present the associated challenges to the development of such a framework and our proposed solutions. We also demonstrate the performance of this framework with examples of soft-body manipulation and interaction with various input devices.
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- PAR ID:
- 10356550
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 6544 to 6550
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1109/ICRA40945.2020.9197573
