Pen Tip Position Estimation Using Least Square Sphere Fitting for Customized Attachments of Haptic Device

Conventionally, dental models [1] are used to impart hand skill education to dental students; however, this method it is not always effective. Dental patient robots that simulate real human motion have been developed [2, 3]. However, these robots are rarely introduced in education because of their high cost and difficult maintenance. We have been developing HAP-DENT [4], a computerized dental training simulator (Fig. 1). The developed simulator uses a combination of virtual reality and haptics. A suitable combination of virtual and real space would enable effective hand skill education for dental students.