FORCE INTERACTIONS IN THE SYNTHETIC ENVIRONMENT USING THE ISU FORCE REFLECTING EXOSKELETON

With the increasing development of sophisticated computer graphic disp lays, attention has been focused on methods to provide force feedback to the human operator in the Virtual environment. This work presents r esults from a prototype exoskeleton device for use in virtual reality force feedback systems. This design is based on the use of an electro- magnetic interface to couple a robotic exoskeleton with the human oper ator. In this system, a robotic mechanism provides an absolute link to ground and supports the weight of the actuation devices and tracking sensors. The mechanical link to ground allows the application of arbit rary interaction forces and provides the position, velocity, and force reference information needed to update graphical displays and generat e accurate force feedback. An electromagnetic interface eliminates hea vy and bulky mechanical attachments to the operator, and provides the capability for high bandwidth force application. By using a robotic ma nipulator to support the heavy parts of the system, the working range of motion is increased. The system provides the flexibility of produci ng a wide range of both relative forces between two fingers and absolu te forces between fingers and the environment. This two-degree-of-free dom functional prototype is currently in the testing phase, and prelim inary results show adequate motion tracking and force generation capab ilities. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.