Virtual reality for the sense of touch
Virtual reality for the sense of touch
Keywords Boeing, Sensors
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to touch the virtual world?
A collaboration currently under way between the Boeing Company and SensAble Technologies, Inc. will allow you to do just that. Based on unique software developed at Boeing, the project enables a user to manipulate a modestly complex rigid object within an arbitrarily complex environment of static rigid objects,while at the same time yielding stable and convincing force feedback through a full 6° of freedom (6-DOF–3 translational and three rotational). With this capability, it will be possible to test assemblability in a CAD model– for example, feeling the clearances between a fuel pump and the engine housing in the digital mock-up of an automobile.
Current graphical applications allow users to navigate within a 3D virtual reality scene. However a typical 3D scene graph does not allow the user to sense physical properties, such as collisions and reaction forces, which are critical to realistic and efficient real-time simulations. Voxmap PointShell (VPS)enhanced with physically based modelling changes all that. VPS monitors the movements of a virtual object within a complex scene, calculating and simulating the physical properties of its motion at a rate of 1000Hz. VPS is sufficiently accurate for a wide range of simulations. It is naturally CPU intensive, but it is easily parallelizable and surprisingly efficient in its use of memory and disk space (see Plate 1).
Plate 1 Boeing 6-DOF demonstration based on VPS software
Using VPS paradigms, haptic interfaces can deliver much more realistic feedback, including:
Detecting all surface contact instead of stopping at the first evidence of it.
Calculating a reaction force and torque at very point or extended region of contact or proximity.
Maintaining a 1,000Hz haptic refresh rate without resorting to asynchronous physics and haptic rendering loops.
These new capabilities make haptic devices more useful than ever. Physically based modelling and feedback control techniques can be used to create realistic forces for several types of such devices. When used with physically based modeling software (kinematics, dynamics, and collision detection), haptic devices allow intuitive interaction with mechanically functional virtual mockups. Possible applications for these types of haptic-based systems include:generation of realistic forces for computer simulations and as an analysis tool for mechanism design, manufacturing, and product support.
Now that the technology exists to simulate the haptic sense through devices that provide force feedback, we are investigating the feasibility and benefits of applying this technology to Boeing applications, such as design for maintainability and training.
For further information please call Joy Murray, VPS Sales Manager, The Boeing Company, PO Box 3707, MC 7L-67, Seattle, WA 98124-2207, USA; Voicemail: (1)425-865-3501; Fax: (1) 425-865-2966; e-mail: joy.a.murray@boeing.com; Web site: www.boeing.com/assocproduct/vpsor Tom Ellery, Executive VP – Sales and Marketing, SensAble Technologies,Inc., 215 First St, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Voicemail: (1) 617-621-0150; Fax(1) 617-621-0135, email: tellery@sensable.com;Web site: www.sensable.com
