A Mobile Haptic Interface (MHI) is an impedance device consisting of a common haptic interface displaced on the top of a mobile platform. MHIs provides the user with complete locomotion inside Virtual Reality environments, thus involving the whole verstibular apparatus of the human operator. In this research theme, several issues can be addressed. Primarily, motion control algorithms must be designed according to dynamical performance specifications. Secondly, since force rendering may be affected both by dynamics and localization of the mobile platform, position estimation algorithms have been studied with the aim to preserve the realism of haptic rendering. Finally, classic haptic grasping algorithms based on friction cone and sof-finger contact model have been implemented to allow virtual manipulation tasks through two contact points. The software architecture is based Haptik Lirary, an open source library developed at the University of Siena.

Related publications:

• A. Formaglio, D. Prattichizzo, A. Giannitrapani and F. Barbagli. Dynamic performance of mobile haptic interfaces. IEEE Transaction on Robotics, Feb. 2008, In press. [Bibtex]

• A.Formaglio, M.de Pascale, and D.Prattichizzo. A mobile platform for haptic grasping in large environments. Virtual Reality, Springer - Special Issue on Multisensory Interaction in Virtual Environments, pp 11-23, 2006. [Bibtex]
• F. Barbagli, A.Formaglio, M. Franzini, A. Giannitrapani, and D.Prattichizzo. An experimental study of the limitations of mobile haptic interfaces. In Experimental Robotics IX, STAR, Springer Tracks in Advanced Robotics. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, 2005. [Bibtex]
• A.Formaglio, A. Giannitrapani, F. Barbagli, M.Franzini, and D.Prattichizzo. Performance of Mobile Haptic Interfaces. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Decision and Control, Seville, Spain, pages 8343-8348, December 12-15 2005. [Bibtex]
• A.Formaglio and D.Prattichizzo. A Smooth Approximation of Mobile Platform Displacement for Mobile Haptic Interfaces. In Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Enactive Interfaces, Genoa, Italy, November 17-18 2005. [Bibtex]