Drone Based Kinesthetic Haptic Interface for Virtual Reality Applications

Abstract

A drone is capable of actively generating kinetic energy and can apply force in a required direction. If a drone can interact physically with a user in a well-controlled manner, it can effectively become a haptic force feedback device. In this demonstration we will highlight the capabilities of a drone based haptic device through a bouncing ball application. Here the user can play with a virtual ball and the drone renders the impact force of the ball on the user’s hand. For the scope of this demonstration during free fall, the ball is assumed in ideal 1D motion and only the force of gravity acts on the ball. The ground impact is calculated for an immovable surface and the rebound force is based on the energy conservation factor.