Thesis
Active control of a distributed force feedback glove for virtual reality environments
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2008
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101546
Abstract
To provide increased realism in a virtual reality (VR) environment, haptic feedback interfaces are used along with sophisticated visual displays. Haptic feedback can provide the feeling of an object's texture, softness and interaction forces to the user. This thesis presents research on an actively controlled force feedback glove that is interfaced with a VR environment to provide sensation of grasping and stiffness of a virtual object. The glove utilizes three-finger mechanisms where each mechanism wraps around a finger and applies distributed forces at the bottom surface of the finger. Each mechanism is controlled by one cable. Controlling the tension on the cable and the displacement of the cable regulates the amount of force applied to the user's finger at any given position of the mechanism. To achieve an active force control of thumb, index and middle fingers, a DC servo motor and a custom-designed force sensor is used for each finger. Using a cable transmission enables separation of the actuation system and the finger mechanisms to increase the transparency of the glove. A controller is also implemented and optimized to achieve the desired control performance. Servo motors, force sensors, finger mechanisms and the controller hardware are all integrated as the glove. The system is interfaced to a VR environment to manipulate virtual objects. With the help of the glove, users are able to grasp the objects while feeling the interaction forces. They can also squeeze the virtual objects to assess their stiffness. Several experiments were conducted with the glove. The results showed that the glove can significantly reduce task completion times while manipulating virtual objects.
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Details
- Title
- Active control of a distributed force feedback glove for virtual reality environments
- Creators
- Ahmet Goktug Dazkir
- Contributors
- Hakan Gürocak (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Identifiers
- 99900525279901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis