Haptic Simulation of a Tool in Contact with a Nonlinear Deformable Body

This paper presents a method to artificially re-create haptic feedback while moving and sliding an arbitrary virtual tool against a virtual deformable body with nonlinear elastic properties. The computation of the response in such general cases is a task which does not yet admit computational solutions suitable for realtime implementation. To address this, we describe an approach based on the bookkeeping of forcedeflections curves stored at the nodes of a triangulated body surface. For realism, normal and lateral deformations at each node are represented in a range of deflection distances. The response everywhere is synthesized via area interpolation of response curves stored at the nodes of the mesh. The mathematical continuity of the synthetic response is the result of both local coordinates interpolation and of response function interpolation, which previous methods did not account for. This guarantees the absence of haptic ‘clicks’ and ‘pops’ which are unacceptable artifacts in high fidelity simulations. Sliding contacts are also considered.