A high performance haptic interface which displays force and haptic information is needed to realize an effective teleoperation. Therefore, we proposed a novel 6-DOF haptic interface characterized with a relatively large workspace, quick motion and compactness [1]. We adopt a hybrid parallel mechanism with decoupled substructures for position and orientation. To realize compactness, motors with harmonic gears and a compact 6-axis force/torque sensor are utilized. An overview of this new haptic interface is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 Overview of the haptic interface.
A 3-DOF modified Delta mechanism as a positioning subsystem and a five bar orientation subsystem are employed. Figure 2 shows the distribution of degrees of freedom. Both mechanisms have no singularities in their respective workspace. As a result, the haptic interface can realize very wide workspace (positioning: a sphere with 75 mm radius; orientation: 120-160 degrees for each axis) and a quick motion ability ensured by the parallel structure.