One hundred data-driven haptic texture models and open-source methods for rendering on 3D objects

Abstract

This paper introduces the Penn Haptic Texture Toolkit (HaTT), a publicly available repository of haptic texture models for use by the research community. HaTT includes 100 haptic texture and friction models, the recorded data from which the models were made, images of the textures, and the code and methods necessary to render these textures using an impedance-type haptic interface such as a SensAble Phantom Omni. This paper reviews our previously developed methods for modeling haptic virtual textures, describes our technique for modeling Coulomb friction between a tooltip and a surface, discusses the adaptation of our rendering methods for display using an impedance-type haptic device, and provides an overview of the information included in the toolkit. Each texture and friction model was based on a ten-second recording of the force, speed, and high-frequency acceleration experienced by a handheld tool moved by an experimenter against the surface in a natural manner. We modeled each texture's recorded acceleration signal as a piecewise autoregressive (AR) process and stored the individual AR models in a Delaunay triangulation as a function of the force and speed used when recording the data. To increase the adaptability and utility of HaTT, we developed a method for resampling the texture models so they can be rendered at a sampling rate other than the 10 kHz used when recording data. Measurements of the user's instantaneous normal force and tangential speed are used to synthesize texture vibrations in real time. These vibrations are transformed into a texture force vector that is added to the friction and normal force vectors for display to the user.