Improved Usability of a Low-Cost 5-DOF Haptic Device for Robotic Teleoperation

The paper describes the design and application of a low-cost haptic device with five degrees of freedom (5-DOF), all of which are fully actuated for force/torque haptic display. The device is realized using two Novint Falcons, commercially available haptic devices with only translational DOF. The paper focus on the practical issues related to the use of such a haptic device as a robotic teleoperation master and provides solutions to improve its usability during an application inspired by surgical robotics, namely the teleoperated insertion of a needle into a soft tissue. Experiments demonstrate the usefulness of force feedback and virtual fixtures on both translation and orientation degrees of freedom.