We present strive, String-Based Force Feedback for Automotive
Virtual reality is a fast-growing field of research that is applied in various domains, such as gaming, medicine or in the automotive industry.
However, force feedback is still missing in most of the virtual reality domains, because there are no suitable devices yet.
We present strive, a string-based force feedback device that is suitable for the automotive industry.
It is very mobile because of its small size and low weight
It is a low cost device with about 25 dollars and can provide force in a workspace up to 2 m.
To provide low latency, STRIVE use a solenoid that pushes a ratchet pawl inside the mainspring’s ratchet gear in order to stop the string extraction.
One STRIVE can provide a force feedback in one degree of freedom, so you can use multiple to increase the degree of freedom
Thereby, the users can decide their own tradeoff between degree of freedom and comfort
To provide a high flexibility, the STRIVES can be easily attached to the users body or static objects in the room, such as a table.
The strings can also be connected to other body parts or objects to simulate collisions, such as head, elbow, foot, hand or tools.
To allow a fast mounting process on several objects, we designed four different changeable mounting modules, such as the Velcro strip module that can be used chairs, tables, backpacks or a head mounted display.
The screw module to attach the STRIVES to aluminum profiles or to screw it on a wall.
The pants module to easily attach the STRIVE to the user’s pants.
And the controller module to directly attach a STRIVE to the HTC Vive controller.
In the first use case we used two Strives and connected them to the controller
With Strive the user feels the collision on the car components.
Thus, he can feel the distances to objects in a more realistic way and can make a more reliable statement whether the specific components are comfortable to reach.
Depending on the collision position and direction, the system will automatically recognize which Strives should be activate to stop the user's movement as best as possible.
In this use case, the user has to evaluate the ergonomic behavior of an assembly task.
Here, three STRIVEs are connected to the user's head mounted display.
The ergonomic movement is depending on the head position, the lower the user has to bend, the less ergonomic the task.
Strive prevent the user's head to penetrate virtual components.
Study results show that the users can better rate their ergonomic space when using STRIVE
In this use case, we connected two controllers with a STRIVE to simulate forces on cable routing.
STRIVE stops the users’ movement when they reach the cable length.
The users have to route cables on a car component.
With STRIVE the cables behave in a more realistic way.
Here, we use four STRIVEs to provide force feedback in a bi-manual assembly task.
Due to the size of the component, it cannot be fully seen in the users’ field of view.
Without haptic feedback, the users can just visually check where a collision occurs.
Study results show, with STRIVE the users experience a mental relief and can better focus on the main task.
In this use case, the users have to check whether they can reach a screw that they cannot see.
Four STRIVEs are connected to a 3D-printed screwdriver in order to simulate collision on the screwdriver’s tip.
Here, the users have to evaluate the free moving space of the screwdriver, therefore collisions are important.
The same use case is also important regarding the ergonomic movement of the users, because the working space is very limited.
Therefore, we connected two STRIVEs to the users’ head mounted display and one to the elbow.
Study results show, that the users can better perceive their ergonomic space and movement.
Overall, the experts found that many of their VR tasks were well supported by STRIVE. More details can be found in our paper. Thanks for watching!