Physical Student–Robot Interaction With the ETHZ Haptic Paddle

Abstract

Haptic paddles-low-cost one-degree-of-freedom force feedback devices-have been used with great success at several universities throughout the United States to teach the basic concepts of dynamic systems and physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) to students. The ETHZ haptic paddle was developed for a new pHRI course offered in the undergraduate Mechatronics Focus track of the Mechanical Engineering curriculum at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Twenty students engaged in this two-hour weekly lecture over the 14 weeks of the autumn 2011 semester, complemented by a weekly two-hour laboratory session with the ETHZ haptic paddle. In pairs, students worked through three common sets of experiments before embarking on a specialization project that investigated one of several advanced topics such as impedance control with force feedback, admittance control, the effect of velocity estimation on stability or electromyographic control. For these projects students received additional hardware, including force sensors, electro-optical encoders or high-performance data acquisition cards. The learning objectives were developed in the context of an accompanying faculty development program at ETH Zurich; a set of interactive sequences and the oral exam were explicitly aligned to these learning objectives. The outcomes of the specialization project presentations and oral exams, and a student evaluation of the course, demonstrated that the ETHZ haptic paddle is a valuable tool that allows students to quite literally grasp abstract principles such as mechanical impedance, passivity and human factors, and helps students create a tangible link between theory and practice in the highly interdisciplinary field of pHRI. Index Terms-Dynamic systems, hands-on laboratory, haptics, human factors, performance metrics, physical human-robot interaction (pHRI), psychophysics, specialization projects.

A Ball and Beam Module for a Haptic Paddle Education Platform

“…Haptic paddles have been implemented in multiple senior/graduate level courses, with devices like The Box [10] acting as a plant for embedded controls curriculum. Other paddles adopt a modular approach, either by increasing the degrees of freedom like the Snaptic paddle [11], adding additional sensing such as force sensing or electromyography [12], or altering the haptic paddle plant, such as the series-elastic implementation of the HandsOn-SEA [13] for higher level course objectives.…”

Motors, Music and Motion

“…However, the Motors & Music project differs from this project as it focus on dynamic force feedback devices with higher temporal resolution than the ones utilised in this project. Most similar to Motors & Music are projects relating to the Haptic Paddle described in [13], [4] and [16], leading to Stanford's Hapkit [6]. As does Motors & Music, these projects feature educational material aimed at introducing haptics to graduate students.…”

The practical application of LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics kits

“…Gassert, et al [17] observed that when objects were used in education as a learning tool, it is evident that the hands-on experience supports higher-order learning; as a result of opportunities for students' to develop their own representations and concepts of educational theories [18]. Furthermore, Gavan & Anderson [4] concluded that the practical application of robotics in undergraduate computing courses in the UK context has been proven to improve student engagement.…”