Position control for slow dynamic systems: Haptic feedback makes system constraints tangible

For many applications such as steer-by-wire or telemanipulation, it remains unclear what tasks benef t most from accurate rendering of feedback forces. The objective of this study is to understand the extent to which haptic feedback of system dynamics helps performance of free-space telemanipulation tasks. In a human factors study, subjects performed a multisine pursuit task using two virtual slave systems, one with fast and one with slow dynamics. The dynamics of the controlled system were fed back fully, scaled or not at all. It was expected that task execution would improve when the boundaries of the controlled system were made tangible to the human operator by means of force feedback, but only for a slow dynamic system. Results show that, for a slow dynamic system, both full and scaled feedback of system dynamics reduce tracking error and excessive control input, at the expense of increased physical control effort. It is concluded that physically displaying the boundaries of the controlled system contribute to the human operator´s understanding of the system, allowing to compensate for the limitations of the controlled dynamics, even if only a fraction of the full feedback is provided.