Model-based design of haptic devices

Efficient engineering design and development of high precision and reliable surgical simulators, like haptic devices for surgical training benefits from model-based and simulation driven design. The complexity of the design space, multi-domains, multicriteria requirements and multi-physics character of the behavior of such a product ask for a model based systematic approach for creating and validating compact and computationally efficient simulation models to be used for the design process. The research presented in this thesis describes a model-based design approach towards the design of haptic devices for simulation of surgical procedures, in case of hard tissues such as bone or teeth milling. The proposed approach is applied to a new haptic device based on TAU configuration. The main contributions of this thesis are:  Development and verification of kinematic and dynamic models of the TAU haptic device.  Multi-objective optimization (MOO) approach for optimum design of the TAU haptic device by optimizing kinematic performance indices, like workspace volume, kinematic isotropy and torque requirement of actuators.  A methodology for creating an analytical and compact model of the quasi-static stiffness of haptic devices, which considers the stiffness of; actuation system; flexible links and passive joints.