This invention is in the field of haptic devices. Embodiments of the invention are more specifically directed to remote force management by operation of one or more haptic devices.
Conventional computer systems typically interface with their users, and with the “outside world” in general, by way of graphics and text. Even pointing devices (e.g., mouse, trackball, trackpad) operate in a graphical sense, by navigating a cursor among graphical elements. In the industrial context, additional interface approaches include the receiving of inputs from sensors and transducers, and the outputting of motor control signals in either of the digital and analog domains.
Haptic devices refer to those interface devices by way of which computers and computer systems mechanically interface with users or objects, by applying forces, vibrations, or motions from the device to the user or object. Examples of conventional haptic devices include robotic devices for handling or moving an object, for example as controlled by a haptic input device receiving motion inputs from a human user, vibrators in game controllers and other devices for issuing a sensation to the user at the appropriate times in a game or simulator, virtual reality systems by way of which user motion is directly interpreted as inputs, and by way of which the haptic device can receive physical feedback, and the like.
Conventional haptic devices operate according to a variety of mechanisms. A common type of haptic device includes actuators that cause mechanical motion in response to a signal stimulus. Conventional haptic input mechanisms include electroactive polymers for sensing the touch of a user, and actuators including piezoelectric, electrostatic, and subsonic audio wave elements for transducing touch or pressure to an electrical signal.
It is contemplated that multiple conventional haptic devices may operate in conjunction with one another by way of a shared motor mechanism, such as a lever. However, this shared motor mechanism necessarily enforces a practical limit as to how remote the devices can be from one another, and as to the response of the devices to one another.