Speaker: Patrick Dills, PhD candidate University of Wisconsin, Madison REACH Lab

Title: Actuation Approaches for High-Performance Kinesthetic Haptic Interaction

Date and Time: Monday, December 11 at 12:00 PM CT

Location: Tech IEMS C211

Abstract: Haptic devices promise to convey feelings of touch to the user. However, current devices lack the dynamic range necessary to present immersive virtual environments. This is in part due to a lack of capable kinesthetic haptic actuators. This talk focuses on three classes of haptic actuators: hybrid active-passive actuators, haptic actuators with speed reducers and backlash, and admittance-controlled actuators. We introduce three innovative actuation approaches: Balanced Hybrid Actuation, Relative Motion Control of haptic actuators with backlash, and Series Admittance Actuation, each tailored to address the shortcomings of its respective actuation class. These approaches aim to enable high performance kinesthetic haptic interactions across a wide range of form factors and interaction scales.

Bio: Patrick Dills is a PhD student at The University of Wisconsin, Madison and is advised by Prof. Michael Zinn. Patrick received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from California State University, Chico and subsequently worked for Sierra Pacific Industries as a mechanical design engineer. Patrick returned to academia earning a M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison focusing on mechatronic systems. His graduate research focuses on the design and control of actuators for kinesthetic haptics and physical human-robot interaction. His work has been recognized at both the Haptics Symposium and World Haptics Conferences with a best work in progress paper award (HS-2018), best video presentation (HS 2020), best technical paper runner up (HS 2020), and best technical paper award (WHC 2023).