We present a constraint-based haptic rendering algorithm for arbitrary point cloud data. With the recent proliferation of low-cost range sensors, 3D point cloud data is readily available at high update rates. Challenges in haptic rendering of this data arise due to noise and poorly defined surface composition. We propose that point cloud data can be rendered as an implicit surface, which can be...

This paper describes a study of whether haptic feedback can be used to represent information that is normally difficult to obtain via visual feedback in telerobotic system. Problems of manipulator kinematic condition such as singularity and joint limit have been well known for a long time. Kinematic condition of the manipulator is difficult to be recognized visually. Poor kinematic condition of...

The focus of this research was to test whether a multi-touch interface is more effective than a joystick controller for telerobotic control. Customarily, joysticks are used with tele-robotic operations. However, multi-touch interfaces can potentially create a natural experience for the operator, causing an improvement in his/her performance during complicated tasks. Our participants completed s...

Medical robotics and computer aided surgery in general, and robotic telesurgery in particular, are promising applications of robotics. In this paper, various aspects of telesurgery are studied. After a general introduction to laparoscopic surgery and medical applications of robotics, the UC Berkeley/Endorobotics Inc./UC San Francisco Telesurgical Workstation, a master-slave telerobotic system f...

Human hand trajectories have been recorded and analyzed in an experimental supervisory control interface for a telerobot manipulator. Using a six degree-of-freedom tracking device to control the gripper of a computer graphics simulation model of the telerobot, human operators were instructed to command the telerobot under a variety of visual conditions. Analysis of the human hand trajectories s...