A Touch Display System for Interaction With Remote and Virtual Environments

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we describe a touch display system suitable for dextrous interaction with remote and virtual environments. The basic framework involves a Utah/MIT robot hand, teleoperated by a human master wearing a VPL Data Glove. The touch reflection system consists of tactile sensors attached to the tips of the robot fingers and micro-actuators, also called tactors, attached to the finger tips of the human operator’s hand. Both the touch sensors and the tactors are commercially available. Experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of the touch display system in a context of dextrous telemanipulation. The approach in this work, though not claimed to be novel, is however simple and inexpensive. The characterization of the force-sensitive resistors, used as touch sensors, and the compromises made on experimental results are of particular interest to the users of similar haptic displays.