SUMMARY

Haptic devices allow a human to interact physically with a remote or virtual environment by providing tactile feedback to the user. In general haptic devices can be classified in two groups according to the energetic nature of their actuators. Devices using electric motors, pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders or other similar actuators that can add energy to the system are considered "active." Devices using brakes, clutches or other passive actuators are considered "passive" haptic devices. The research presented here focuses on the use of passive haptic devices used during teleoperation, the remote control of a "slave" device by the haptic "master" device. An actuation scheme as well as three different control methods is developed for providing the user with haptic feedback. As a final step, the effectiveness of the controllers is compared to that of a commercially available active haptic device. Twenty subjects provide data that shows the usefulness of the passive device in three typical teleoperation tasks.