James Mullins

Haptic handwriting aid for training and rehabilitation

This paper reports a method of controlling a users hand through the process of writing. Developed predominantly for enabling users to re-learn the skill of writing after a stroke, the process could also be used for teaching children hand/eye coordination, motor skills, movement and position awareness in writing. Utilising low cost haptic technology and custom control software, the system has the potential to increase writing skills in stroke sufferers in the privacy and comfort of their own home.

A Haptically Enabled Low-Cost Reconnaissance Platform for Law Enforcement

Traditionally, the control system of a modern teleoperated mobile robot consists of one or more two-dimensional joysticks placed on a control interface. While this simplistic interface allows an operator to remotely drive the platform, feedback is limited to visual information supplied by on-board cameras. Significant advances in the field of haptics have the potential to meaningfully enhance situational awareness of a remote robot. The focus of this research is the augmentation of Deakin Universitys OzBottrade MkIV mobile platform to include haptic control methodologies. Utilising the platforms inertial measurement unit, a remote operator has the ability to gain knowledge of the vehicles operating performance and terrain while supplying a finer level of control to the drive motors. Our development of a generic multi-platform ActiveX allows the easy implementation of haptic force feedback to many computer based robot controllers. Furthermore, development of communication protocols has progressed with Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS) compliance in mind. The haptic force control algorithms are presented along with results highlighting the benefits of haptic operator feedback on the MklV OzBottrade chassis.

OzBot TM -haptic augmentation of a teleoperated robotic platform for search and rescue operations

A continued increase in computing power, sensor capability, software functionality, immersive interfaces and hardware modularity has given robot designers seemingly endless potential in the area of mobile robotics. While some mobile robotic system designers are focusing on expensive, full-featured platforms, developers are realising the advantages of emerging technology in providing small, low-cost mobile reconnaissance vehicles as expendable teleoperated robotic systems. The OzBotTM mobile reconnaissance platform presents one such system. The design objectives of the OzBotTM platform focus on the development of inexpensive, lightweight carry-case sized robots for search and rescue operations, law enforcement scenarios and hazardous environment inspection. The incorporation of Haptic augmentation provides the teleoperator with improved task immersion for an outdoor search and rescue scenario. Achieved in cooperation with law enforcement agencies within Australia, this paper discusses the performance of the first four revisions of the OzBotTM platform.

A haptically enabled CAN-based steering wheel controller

As the portable entertainment and mobility technologies migrate into the car, driver distraction has become recognized as a major factor in road crashes around the world. To help alert drivers to their distraction, active safety technologies such as lane departure warning systems and collision avoidance systems are being implemented. One issue with the implementation of yet another technology into the vehicle is how to cut through the competing demands of the mobile phone, navigation systems and other technologies. Haptic alerts present just such a method that may enable the system to short-circuit the normal auditory or visual communication channels. This paper presents a low cost haptic steering wheel controller that has been designed developed and tested and may be used as a communication device by a lane departure, collision avoidance, or other type of safety system.

Haptically-Enabled Dance Visualisation Framework for Deafblind-Folded Audience and Artists

In this paper we propose a framework for communicating performance art to deaf, blind and deaf blind audiences and artists haptically through the sense of touch. This research opens doors for novel artistic trends relying mainly on the sense of touch. The paper investigates the design considerations dictated by solo and group dances as well as stage setup. Implementation scenarios for deaf blind audiences and performers are also discussed.

Wireless haptic rendering for mobile platforms

Computer haptics has so far been performed on a personal computer (PC). Off the shelf haptic devices provide only PC interfaces and software drivers for control and communication. The new wave of high capable tablet PCs and high end smart phones introduced new platforms for haptic applications. The major problem was to communicate wirelessly to provide user convenience and support mobility which is an essential feature for these platforms. In this paper we provide a wireless layered communication protocol and a hardware setup that enables off the shelf haptic devices to communicate wirelessly with a mobile device. The layers in the protocol enable the change of any hardware components without affecting the data flow. However, the adoption of the wireless interface instead of the wired one comes with the price of speed. Haptic refresh loops require a relatively high refresh rate of 1000 Hz compared to graphics loop which require between 30 and 60 only. An interpolation algorithm was demonstrated to compensate the latency and secure a stable user experience. The introduced setup was tested against portable environments and the users could perform similar functionalities to what are available on a wired setup to a PC.

A System for Energy Saving in Commercial and Organizational Buildings

Energy consumption in commercial and organizational buildings with shared electricity produces a considerable amount of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Sustainable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in these building remains to be a challenge and further research is required to address this problem due to the complexity of human behavior. The present paper introduces distributed meters for these buildings in order to achieve a sustainable energy saving. The method provides a direct control to a humans’ behavior that is essential for effectiveness of the energy saving. It is shown that by using distributed meters, the system can actively engage humans in the energy saving process. The hardware and software required to implement this concept are explored and the sustainability of the proposed method is discussed.

A library of energy efficiency functions for home appliances

Emerging home automation technologies have the potential to help householders save energy, reduce their energy expenses and contribute to the climate change by decreasing the net emitted greenhouse gas by reduced energy consumption. The present paper introduces a distributed energy saving method that is developed for a home automation system. The proposed method consists of two levels functional elements; a central controller and distributed smart power points. The smart power points consist of a proposed a library of energy saving functions that are specifically developed for different home appliances or devices. Establishing a library of high performing, energy saving functions can speed up development of a buildings control system and maximum the potential reduction in energy consumption.

Feels Like Dancing: Motion capture driven haptic interface as an added sensory experience for dance viewing

This paper describes a system for delivering movement information from a dance performance using a multisensory approach that includes visual, sonic and haptic information. The work builds on previous research into interpreting dance as haptic information for blind, deaf-blind and vision-impaired audience members. This current work is aimed at a general audience, with haptic information being one of a number of sensory experiences of the dance. A prototype haptic device has been developed for use in dance performance research.

Enhancing Audio-Haptic Enabled Novel Dental Training Platform Performance

Existing haptic and non-haptic dental simulators do not eliminate the problem of hand instability while using the haptic devices for training purpose. This paper reports an audio-haptic dental training platform, which uses a Hand Stability System to reduce the effect of nervousness and hand instability for trainee dental students. Maintaining the ease of implementation, application customizability and the cost factor, the proposed platform increases the training efficiency by enhancing the immersive haptic experience with hand stability. This haptic platform includes multiple angle viewing techniques, audio feedback and session recording for after action review. Trials using this preliminary platform reduced the effect of human nervousness and hand instability due to the customized design.