SHaDe, a new 3-DOF haptic device

This paper presents a new type of haptic device using spherical geometry. The basic idea of haptic devices is to provide users with feedback information on the motion and/or force that he or she generates. Haptic devices have several potential applications, such as for example, fine compliant assembly, VR environment simulation and high precision teleoperation, especially in hazardous or hostile areas. The particular architecture of spherical haptic device developed here will be presented and its advantages will be highlighted. Then, its basic kinematic properties, which shall be used for control and geometric optimization purposes, will be reviewed. The design optimization itself will then highlight some important features of the mechanism. The control scheme and real-time force feedback issues will then be presented. Finally, the results obtained with the prototype will be discussed. Keywords— haptic device, parallel mechanism, spherical mechanism, design optimization, force control.