Haptics on the Rise
"Replicating that sensitivity is the goal of haptics, a science that is
playing an increasing role in connecting the computing world to humans.
One of the most significant advances in haptics has been made by Mako
Surgical, founded in 2004 by the roboticist Rony Abovitz. In 2006, Mako
began offering a robot that provides precise feedback to surgeons repairing arthritic knee joints.
Beyond
advances necessary for basic safety, scientists are focusing on more
subtle aspects of touch. Last year, researchers at Georgia Tech reported in the journal Science
that they had fabricated bundles of tiny transistors called taxels to
measure changes in electrical charges that signal mechanical strain or
pressure. The goal is to design touch-sensitive applications, including
artificial skin for robots and other devices.
Much
research is focusing on vision and its role in touch. The newest da
Vinci Xi, a surgery system developed by Intuitive Surgical Inc., uses
high-resolution 3-D cameras to enable doctors to perform delicate
operations remotely, manipulating tiny surgical instruments. The company
focused on giving surgeons better vision, because the necessary touch
for operating on soft tissue like organs is still beyond the capability
of haptics technology.
Curt Salisbury, a principal research engineer at SRI International, a
nonprofit research institute, said that while surgeons could rely on
visual cues provided by soft tissues to understand the forces exerted by
their tools, there were times when vision alone would not suffice.
“Haptic feedback is critical when you don’t have good visual access,” he said.
Other
researchers believe that advances in sensors that more accurately model
human skin, as well as algorithms that fuse vision, haptics and
kinematics, will lead to vast improvements in the next generation of
robots.
One path is being pursued by Eduardo Torres-Jara,
an assistant professor of robotics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
in Massachusetts, who has defined an alternative theory he describes as
“sensitive robotics.” He has created a model of robotic motion, grasping
and manipulation that begins with simply knowing where the robot’s feet
or hands meet the ground or an object. “It is all about recognizing the
tactile events and understanding that very well,” he said. Using
biologically inspired artificial skin that can detect tiny changes in
magnetic forces, he has built a two-legged walking robot that is able to
balance and stride by measuring changing forces on the bottoms of its
feet.
Last fall, Allison Okamura, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Laboratory for Collaborative Haptics and Robotics in Medicine at Stanford, taught an online course in haptics. Students assembled “hapkits” designed by Dr. Okamura, the Stanford education professor Paulo Blikstein and Tania Morimoto, a Stanford graduate student. They
then programmed them to create virtual devices like springs and dampers
that could be manipulated as if they were in the real world."
Image credit: New York Times
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