March 6th, 2008 
admin 
Er, that’s a mouthful. It sounds like some kind of futuristic time machine or a device that allows you to levitate. Well, the latter is a little more on target. Folks at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Robotics are working on a haptic device that feels extremely realistic. Yeah, most of you will be scratching your head, “What the heck is a haptic device?” Let’s explore that.
Wikipedia talks about haptic technology this way: “Haptic technology refers to technology which interfaces the user via the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations and/or motions to the user. This mechanical stimulation may be used to assist in the creation of virtual objects (objects existing only in a computer simulation), for control of such virtual objects, and to enhance the remote control of machines and devices…” So, are you tracking with me a little better now? Okay, so these folks are creating devices that use magnetic fields to create a levitating haptic device. Sounds freakish, doesn’t it! Researchers who are involved with the consortium to bring this together cite these advantages for a device like this:
- Single moving part with 6 degrees of freedom
- Zero static friction
- Zero mechanical backlash
- High position and force bandwidths
- High position resolution
- Low perceived mass
- Very wide range of stiffnesses possible
- Mechanical simplicity, no tight tolerances
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