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Prof. Matteo Bianchi - Department of Information Engineering, Research Center “Enrico Piaggio” - University of Pisa - "Introduction to Haptics and Haptic Interfaces", 13, 14, 17, 18 December 2018

Hours:
20 hours (5 credits)

Room:
Aula Riunioni Piano 6 del Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, Pisa

Short Abstract:
Haptics, i.e. the science of touch, represents a vibrating, multi-disciplinary research topic, which crosses the boundaries between neuroscience, psychophysics, robotics and engineering. While in the neuro-scientific community the main focus of haptics is the study of neural and perceptual mechanisms of human tactual sensing, under a technological point of view it aims at suitably replicating such mechanisms through artificial systems (namely haptic interfaces) for human-machine interaction. In this course, we will review the main concepts underlying human touch perception, and how they can be applied to the design of haptic devices and sensors to render and sense, respectively, different types of touch-related information. We will describe the principal components of the mechatronic architecture of these systems, their main application fields and the related issues e.g. concerning control and stability. We will also analyze wearable haptic systems and discuss the role of affective touch, i.e. the emotional component of touch, for the design of a novel generation of interfaces for human robot communication.

Course Contents in brief:

  • Introduction to Haptics: from Human Touch to Artificial Touch
  • Principles of biological touch and mathematical modelling of human tactual sensing. Artificial systems: kinaesthetic devices, tactile displays, and tactile/force sensors – general overview
  • Haptic Devices: Kinaesthetic Devices and Tactile Displays
    • Haptic Devices: Application Areas
    • Device Architecture; Control Aspects (Tele-Operation and Virtual/Augmented Reality Environments); Haptic Rendering
    • Softness Displays and Texture Rendering (Tool-Mediated Texture Rendering; Surface Haptics)
  • Ungrounded -Wearable Haptics and Affective Haptics
  • Real-Scenario Applications for tactile/force sensing and haptic rendering

Schedule:

  • 13 Dicembre 10.30-13.00 & 14.30 - 17.00
  • 14 Dicembre 10.30-13.00 & 14.30 - 17.00
  • 17 Dicembre 10.30-13.00 & 14.30 - 17.00
  • 18 Dicembre 10.30-13.00 & 14.30 - 17.00