Stable haptic interaction in a dynamic virtual environment

To carry out a stable haptic interaction with a dynamic virtual environment containing several moving and/or deformable bodies is challenging. To achieve this, we present a collision detection algorithm based on a segmentation of the space with a regular voxel grid. Interpenetration is quickly estimated using a sphere decomposition of the bodies. Thereafter, we use the voxel grid as a still image of the environment to provide a fast intermediate model that computes the force feedback. It thus enables to simulate the environment at a slow rate (10-100 Hz) while controlling the haptic device at the required frequency (about 1 kHz).