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A prototype has been completed at KIT-ISAS that offers a unique, immersive user experience for teleoperation. The interface, for instance, can convey resistance and motion, providing tactile feedback as users engage with remote or virtual objects.
Haptic feedback is an important component in the teleoperation of remote manipulators, especially when the remote environment is to be manipulated. Not only for teleoperation, but also for simulation and training purposes, the most immersive representation of the required scenario is desirable.
For this reason, a new kinesthetic haptic interface has been developed over the past few years as part of the research in ROBDEKON at the Chair for Intelligent Sensor-Actuator Systems (ISAS) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), which has now reached the status of a fully functional prototype under the name »HapticGiant«.
In combination with a novel hierarchy-based control concept, HapticGiant can display a wide variety of remote or virtual objects including their mechanical properties, including the autonomous 24-ton excavator ALICE from ROBDEKON. In contrast to comparable haptic interfaces, the user can move around as normal and feels little to no restriction from the interface itself. Furthermore, the kinesthetic interface can make it possible to feel resistance when grabbing objects. The intelligent control of the HapticGiant also ensures that important system limits and functional safety criteria are met at all times.
As a result, a system is now available that provides haptic feedback for a wide range of applications that go far beyond ROBDEKON. In combination with the iviz visualization software, also developed at ISAS, a highly immersive user experience can be created.
The following video shows the system features, exemplary application scenarios and the user-friendly handling of HapticGiant: