Abstract

Force feedback gloves allow users to touch and manipulate virtual objects intuitively. Compared with gloves providing active feedback force, gloves with passive feedback force are promising in terms of safety and low weight, but simulating the variable stiffness of virtual objects is more challenging. Addressing this difficulty, we propose a five-fingered glove with passive force feedback employing a variable ratio lever mechanism. The stiffness of the proposed glove is tuned by changing the structural stiffness of this mechanism rather than by applying torque control at each joint of the finger. The switch between free and constrained space is realized in real time by locking/unlocking the revolute joints of the glove using a servo motor. Furthermore, a predictive control mode is proposed to reduce the response time of the control system, and the actual response time is less than the limit of the delay (45 ms) that humans can perceive between visual and haptic stimuli. Experimental results show that the linear stiffness at the fingertip ranges from 0.89 to 619.89 N/m, and the maximum backdrive force of the proposed glove is less than 0.147 N.

Highlights

  • Wearable haptic devices that support diverse hand postures and provide users with natural interaction experiences have greater potential in various applications than traditional desktop haptic interfaces

  • Basing on the reviews [1,2], the characteristics of desirable force feedback gloves are as follows: first, the gloves should be capable of simulating virtual objects of different stiffness with fast dynamic response; second, the gloves must be safe and lightweight, and the tradeoff between backdrivability and maximum force/torque requires careful design to meet the requirements for both free space and constrained space; third, the gloves should be capable of simulating the cooperative operation of five fingers without mechanical interference, as well as providing a large workspace that allows users to fully clench their fists and extend/swing their fingers

  • We developed a novel five-fingered force feedback glove with variable stiffness

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Summary

Introduction

Wearable haptic devices that support diverse hand postures and provide users with natural interaction experiences have greater potential in various applications than traditional desktop haptic interfaces. A typical example of wearable haptic devices, allow users to touch and intuitively manipulate (such as grasping, pinching, and lifting) remote or virtual objects, dramatically enhancing the immersion of the haptic experience. Given these advantages, force feedback gloves have attracted increasing attention from researchers and start-up companies, and are widely explored for virtual reality applications such as mechanical assembly, teleoperation, and virtual games. Force feedback gloves driven by electric motors, classified as active and passive [2], are widely favored because of their fast dynamic response, high precision control, and portability

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