Six degree-of-freedom haptic rendering of complex polygonal models

This paper describes a haptic rendering algorithm for arbitrary polygonal models using a six degree-of-freedom haptic interface. The algorithm supports activities such as virtual prototyping of complex polygonal models and adding haptic interaction to virtual environments. The underlying collision system computes local minimum distances between the model controlled by the haptic device and the rest of the scene. The haptic rendering computes forces and torques on the moving model based on these local minimum distances.