META

One of the most illuminating experiences for engineers is to be involved with physical products. Indeed, many people are drawn to engineering because they enjoy the hands-on experience of making and building artefacts of various kinds. Many engineers find the sensation of handling a physical prototype, or experiencing manufacturing process, useful; hands-on experience reinforces the understanding of the physical, operational and visual aspects of engineered items. But screen-based CAD/CAM, which only stimulates the visual senses, has made physical contact during product development an increasingly rare occurrence.

That leads us to the study of haptics, the technology of touch. Emerging haptic technologies could lead to the creation of natural and intuitive computer-based product engineering tools that allow a tactile experience through a combination of vision and touch.

Haptics (pronounced HAP-tiks) is the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications. (The word derives from the Greek haptein meaning "to fasten.") A haptic interface comprises special input/output devices (joysticks, data gloves, or other devices) that enable human interaction with data in virtual environments or teleoperated remote systems. Force-reflecting haptic devices generate computer-controlled forces that convey to the user a sense of the feel of the virtual environment and objects within it. In this context, "haptic rendering" can be defined as the process of calculating the forces required for simulating the tactile feel for virtual objects. In combination with a visual display, haptics technology can be used to train people for tasks requiring hand-eye coordination, such as surgery to large/micro assembly manoeuvres. It can also be used for games in which you feel as well as see your interactions with images.

Project: Haptic-based Manufacturing and Assembly System

Description:

As the price of haptic devices and virtual reality interfaces continues to fall it is possible to foresee time when they become almost standard accessories for working with 3D data. However, if this promise is to be fulfilled then new interface paradigms, applications and methods need to be established and contrasted with current best industrial practice. The situation today is analogous to the advent of multi-window mouse driven interfaces, which dramatically changed the nature of user experiences and cognitive thought processes. Twenty years ago these new graphical user interfaces caused a step change in computer and product engineering productivity, many commentators believe that haptic interfaces have the potential to do this again for 3D data. The most widespread, and valuable, forms of 3D data arise from mechanical CAD/CAM systems used to create digital representations of precisely engineered components, which provide product data for "downstream" manufacturing and assembly processes. Surprisingly, despite the potential promise, little work has been done to develop new, haptic human-computer interface designs in these domains and quantify their impact on productivity.

A key advantage of all virtual environments is that of scaling. Being able to scale up microassemblies (such as MEMS) to a human ergonomic scale or reduce a very large assembly (such as an aircraft engine or wing) provides a very powerful cognitive tool that enhances the product development process. The engineer can design, analyse, manufacture and assemble and, then, scale the product back to its original size before generating a parts list and other downstream information. It is the contention of the applicants that the effectiveness of such interfaces, especially when enhanced by haptics, will considerably improve product design and manufacturing lead times.

However, despite much speculation about the productivity gains that might be delivered by virtual/haptic interfaces there is a dearth of serious comparative work to quantify the benefits.

Using haptic feedback and 3D stereo-rendering this project will create novel application interfaces to a range of macro/micro manufacturing and assembly tasks. This is an area of considerable current interest to both users and developers of CAD/CAM systems who know that better interfaces will lead to lower engineering costs and lead-times. This project will also deliver quantitative assessments of applications that use haptic feedback and 3D stereo-rendering for interactive design and manufacturing.

Scope:

This research programme aims to: Firstly to develop a novel test bed for virtual/haptic machining and assembly whose performance can be compared with functionally equivalent systems in current industrial use. Secondly to study human factors for evaluation of both user functionality and cognitive measures. This approach will enable the quantitative assessment of each applied technology and its associated interface.

This research programme builds on the foundations established by other EPSRC/SMI-funded work and has industrial support from leading commercial software and hardware vendors and several international and SME manufacturing companies.