Multi Finger Multi Point haptic interfaces for motor skill training simulations

Abstract

Most commercial devices currently available allow haptic interaction with only one contact point like touching an object with a chopstick, which may be sufficient for some exploration or palpation tasks; however, multi-contact point applications allow the performance of more advanced and realistic object manipulation such as grasping or assembling. the present thesis investigates initially the use of haptic for skills training in various areas like medical, vocational and school education. And the thesis explores the possibilities of multi-point and multi-finger haptic interfaces for effective motor skill training and interaction in virtual and remote environments. This thesis contributes to work on haptics and associated research areas. It covers a large breadth of haptics literature and its major applications. Firstly it presents an outline, the research challenges and preliminary implementations of haptic examples. It then focused on Amrita Progressive Training Assistance using Haptic simulation (APTAH), a cost-effective haptic simulator that can train the use of over nineteen hand-held and powered tools used in several vocations. The development of methods for using this interface is one of the key contributions of the thesis. The thesis presents the simulation based multi-modal (haptic, audio, and visual) skill training interface system to simulate various common tool exercises and procedures in virtual environments (VEs) for vocational training programs with a special focus on plumbing and carpentry targeted towards the illiterate and neo-literate sections of society. Also, the thesis gives the computational models and haptic rendering for simulation of physical interaction with a variety of materials and contexts in a virtual training system. While mainstream haptics has been focusing on training elite skills, the haptic simulator interfaces described in this thesis addressed a problem with a phenomenal social impact related to the teaching of vocational skills to the growing unskilled (attached abstract).