Augmented dexterity in contactless object handling using a haptic interface

Haptic interfaces have proven to be powerful tools for using the more natural human sensation of touch to sense different kinds of information. Most haptic applications are rooted in the virtual reality world to sense an object that is physically not there or to manipulate an object through teleoperation. But, a recent application has been to "baptize" sensory information in real-time applications and assist operators with their tasks. In this paper, we propose a new concept for augmenting dexterity, which is the human skill in physical movement, by means of a haptic interface for contactless object handling. For contactless object manipulation, where humans directly operate a levitation system, the main disturbances come from the human motion, which is limited by human skill. The haptic interface regulates the motion of the human operator in real time in such a way that the stability of the levitation system is maintained. The operator can perform his task in a natural way, since his main sensation of the levitation state is haptic. As a first approach to this new concept, a specific case is presented. This case shows the benefits of using a combined system of haptic interface and magnetic levitation system. Our prototype has shown interesting potential in using both magnetic levitation and a haptic interface to perform an object handling task such as pick and place. Details of this prototype and the obtained results are described.