A Design Methodology for Haptic Devices

This paper presents a design methodology for optimal design of haptic devices, considering aspects from all involved engineering domains. The design methodology is based on parametric modeling with an iterative and integrated design approach that leads to easier design space exploration for global optimal design and initial verification in the conceptual design phase. For design optimization, performance indices such as; workspace volume, isotropy, stiffness, inertia and control of the device, from all involved engineering domains were considered. To handle this complex and non-linear optimization problem, a multi-objective algorithm together with a new proposed optimization function was used, to obtain an optimum solution. A case study, where the methodology has been applied to develop a parallel haptic device is presented in detail in this paper. The simulation and experimental results obtained from this test case show significant improvements in the performances of the device.