A Virtual Robot Arm Model with Force Feedback and Contact States Identification

This paper modeled a force feedback-based virtual robot arm which can identify contact states between virtual prototypes. In order to enable the virtual robot arm to be driven by haptic device and haptically interact with virtual prototypes in virtual environment, a workspace mapping method based on robot kinematics analysis is proposed. A contact states identification method based on boundary and topology model is presented. In this method the potential contact elements (such as vertex, edge and surface) are obtained by comparing the connectivity degree of the convex, edge and surface of overlaid virtual models. According to the priority of different contact states, different potential contact states are set using potential contact elements of both parts, once the distance and direction between contact elements meet those of some contact state, the contact state between two parts is identified. With the presented virtual robot arm model, operators can drive the virtual robot arm interactively and feel the contact states between virtual prototypes using feedback force.