Haptic feedback and assistance for off-highway machinery

Challenges & solutions : Haption devised several devices and feedback schemes suited for off - highway machinery human - machine interfaces . First , to provide haptic assistance to driving tracked vehicles , we designed haptic - enabled track control levers featuring force and tactile feedback in the lever handles . This enables co - location of haptic feedback related to driving tasks with the controls used for driving . They provide assisted braking , steering and cruise - control through force - feedback , and information on obstacle avoidance and path following through tactile cues . Second , we designed a fully configurable 6 degree - of - freedom ( DoF ) force - feedback joystick to provide haptic assistance for tool manipulation . With DoF independently lockable in software , the joystick enables the implementation of control kinematics for a diverse set of tools . Interchangeable handles provide a perfect fit to control each type of vehicle control constraints . Vibrotactile feedback in the handle provide tactile notifications in addition to force feedback . The joystick enables co - location of haptic feedback related to tool manipulation tasks with the controls used for handling the tool . Force - feedback enables collision avoidance , keeps tools within a safe manipulation area , and provides clear perception of tool axis limits and applied loads . LinkedIn Tactile feedback in the handle notifies operators of tool axis limits , provides task - relevant event notifications and proximity warnings for guidance . Impact : Our results have the potential to significantly assist off - highway vehicle operators both in driving and tool manipulation tasks , in a wide variety of settings . Next steps will include validating and refining haptic feedback schemes , and deploying the technical solutions to a wider range of application domains . This work is part of the THEIA project that received funding from the European Union‘s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 101092861. XR theia-xr.eu KEY BENEFITS Clearer perception of machine limits and loads Intuitive torque and tactile feedback for guidance during driving Intuitive handling of tools through customizable control kinematics Haptic feedback and assistance for off - highway machinery Figure 1: Devices from Haption