Design of a Haptic Interface Based on Cable Robot and Ultrasonic Transducers Array

This paper introduces a haptic interface based on cable robot and ultrasonic transducers array. This novel haptic interface device is capable of invoking compound haptic sensations and displaying multiple properties of virtual objects, including texture, three-dimensional shape, and weight etc. With a network of cables kept in tension, users are able to perceive force feedback in virtual reality applications. 1-DOF grasping and 6-DOF manipulation are provided by the cable-driven parallel mechanism. The kinematic models and static analysis are presented. The tactile feedback is provided by an ultrasonic transducers array. Cable-driven force and ultrasonic tactile feedback are applied to the hand simultaneously. An implementation of the theory and system design is proposed in this paper. Experiments are conducted to confirm the accuracy advantage of our system in the virtual environment. The results of our study indicate that this device has great application potential in human-robot interaction.