Haptic Friction Display of a Hybrid Active/Passive Force Feedback Interface

This paper addresses both theoretical and experimental studies of the stability of haptic interfaces during the simulation of virtual Coulomb friction. The first objective of this paper is to present an analysis of how friction affects stability in terms of the describing function method and the absolute stability theory. Two different feedback methods are introduced and are used to evaluate the analysis: an active force feedback, using a motor, and a passive force feedback, using controllable brake. The second objective of this paper is to present a comparison of the theoretical and experimental results. The results indicate that the sustained oscillations due to the limit cycle occur when simulating friction with an active force feedback. In contrast, a passive force feedback can simulate virtual friction without the occurrence of instability. In conclusion, a hybrid active/passive force feedback is proposed to simulate a highly realistic friction display.