Virtual prototyping of mechanical systems with tool mediated haptic feedback

Haptic feedback usually involves two types of stimulation forces: forces that address the touch sense and forces that address the kinesthetic perception. Touch forces have a low intensity and a complex structure since they reflect contact phenomena where friction plays an important role. Therefore, they are quite difficult to simulate. Virtual prototyping with haptic feedback should ideally involve both types of forces, but the integration of the touch feeling makes the simulator very complex. In this paper, we present a novel concept for virtual prototyping in which the touch interaction is separated from the kinesthetic force feedback. This is possible using a prototype that has a real part undertaking the touch interaction and a virtual part that simulate feedback for the kinesthetic forces. In this way, a full haptic interaction with the virtual prototype is established by means of a device that provides a realistic simulation of the product. In order to illustrate the concept, several experiments have been carried out for the case of specific subsystems of a car, which are particularly involved in the driver–car interaction: steering system, clutch pedal and the gearshift. A user test is described in the last part as well as the conclusions of the research.