Haptic feedback for minimally invasive surgery is a widely debated topic, especially force sensors for this kind of application are thoroughly researched. The current state-of-the-art includes several realization options, but none of them are suitable to be integrated in small diameter instruments. In this work, we present a new approach for the generation of haptic feedback by using two separate feedback mechanisms for spatial kinesthetic and unidirectional tactile feedback in a teleoperation system with a parallel kinematic slave robot and the design of the corresponding user interfaces. Kinesthetic forces are measured with proximal sensors in the robot kinematic and displayed with a delta-type kinematic mechanism. Tactile signals are acquired with an acceleration sensor placed closely at the tip of the robot manipulator and conveyed open-loop by a vibrating cylinder to the user's palm. Kinesthetic forces up to 15 N can be displayed up to a frequency of 50 Hz. The tactile interface displays accelerations up to 15m/s for frequencies from 50 Hz to 1000 Hz. The combination of the two interfaces allows the display of high-fidelity haptic feedback with greatly reduced requirements on the interface components.

Platypus is the first system to localize and identify people by remotely and passively sensing changes in their body electric potential which occur naturally during walking. While it uses three or more electric potential sensors with a maximum range of 2 m, as a tag-free system it does not require the user to carry any special hardware. We describe the physical principles behind body electric potential changes, and a predictive mathematical model of how this affects a passive electric field sensor. By inverting this model and combining data from sensors, we infer a method for localizing people and experimentally demonstrate a median localization error of 0.16 m. We also use the model to remotely infer the change in body electric potential with a mean error of 8.8 % compared to direct contact-based measurements. We show how the reconstructed body electric potential differs from person to person and thereby how to perform identification. Based on short walking sequences of 5 s, we identify four users with an accuracy of 94 %, and 30 users with an accuracy of 75 %. We demonstrate that identification features are valid over multiple days, though change with footwear.

This paper shows an implementation of the Ψ and UML (Updated Maximum Likelihood) methods to incorporate unforced choice paradigms (nAUC) and simulation results for repeatability, efficiency and accuracy. Parametric methods like Ψ and UML promise higher accuracy and efficiency compared to classic and non-parametric methods and support fixed sets of stimuli. Unforced choice paradigms have shown similar performance as forced choice paradigms but are expected to create less confusion for test subjects for low stimuli intensities.

Pseudo haptic sensation is an illusion based on visual stimuli. In virtual environments the principle of pseudo haptic feedback is used to simulate material properties such as stiffness, mass and friction. Transfering the principle of pseudo haptic feedback to real haptic teleoperation systems can provide a haptic sensation for properties of material, manipulated without active haptic feedback. Hence, the implementation of pseudo haptic feedback to teleoperation systems reduces the requirements for kinematic structures and actuators of the used haptic user interface .In this work, we discuss the usability of pseudo haptic feedback for its application in teleoperation systems. The mechanisms of pseudo-haptic feedback are theoretically explained for an exemplary teleoperation task. Options to vary the intensity of the users pseudo haptic sensation are derived. The effect of pseudo haptic feedback for teleoperation is based on changing the input-output ratio by actual measured interaction forces at the end-effector. A one degree of freedom teleoperation system is used for first experiments with pseudo haptic feedback in teleoperation. The used teleoperation system couples users input force to a defined displacement of an end-effector. Our results prove the validity of pseudo-haptic feedback in teleoperation by a compliance discrimination experiment.