Force saturation, system bandwidth, information transfer, and surface quality in haptic interfaces

This paper presents a two-part study of the effects of maximum endpoint force and system bandwidth on haptic perception. First, size identification experiments were performed to determine the effects of system quality, in terms of these two system parameters, on the ability of a human to identify square cross-section ridges by size in a simulated environment. Then, discrimination experiments were performed to determine the relationships between haptic interface machine parameters and simulation quality in terms of perceived surface hardness. Results indicate that haptic interface hardware may be able to convey sufficient perceptual information to the user with relatively low levels of force feedback and system bandwidth, yet subjects can perceive improvements in simulated surface quality as levels are further increased.