H a p t i c s L a b o r a t o r y

The Haptics Laboratory workde on the engineering and design of haptic interfaces, that is, of systems which comprise software and hardware components that concern the sense of touch.

We work on on-line computational models of interaction between objects (deformation, friction, cutting, ...) which can provide high-fidelity simulations as needed, for example, in the construction of surgical simulators. We are also interested in the study of perceptual effects involving touch, and to take advantage of them to create devices, visualization methods, and tactile displays.

The laboratory was involved in exciting applications including rehabilitation, operator assistance in space, medecine, and computer music performance. In the past twenty years, a variety of haptics devices were based on different principles. Actuators and their methods of control, being at the source of movement, are also of great interest.

The laboratory has also made contributions in robot programming, trajectory generation, mechanism design, and computational collision detection.

The Haptics Laboratory was part of the Center for Intelligent Machines at McGill University . As of 2008, it has been re-instantiated at the the Institut des Systemes Intelligents et de Robotique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. Click here for his new page.