Hybrid control of haptic feedback for host computer and interface device

A method for providing haptic feedback functionality on a host computer in a hybrid system including said host computer and a haptic feedback interface device, the method comprising:

• receiving on a driver of said host computer a command to provide a force effect, said command provided by an application program running on said host computer;
• determining whether said commanded force effect is an open loop effect or a closed loop effect;
• if said commanded force effect is a closed loop effect, directing force information based on said command to said haptic feedback device to allow said haptic feedback device to compute force values for said closed loop effect;
• and
• if said commanded force effect is an open loop effect,
• storing information associated with said command in memory of said host computer;
• computing a force value of said open loop force effect by said driver using said information associated with said command;
• and
• providing said force value to said haptic feedback device to allow said haptic feedback device to output said force value as a force to a user of said haptic feedback device.

A force feedback interface device, said device in communication with a host computer, said host computer running and displaying a graphical environment, said force feedback interface device comprising:

• a user manipulatable object physically contacted by a user and moveable in at least one degree of freedom;
• at least one actuator operative to output forces felt by said user;
• at least one sensor operative to detect motion of said user manipulatable object in said at least one degree of freedom and outputting a sensor signal indicative of said motion;
• and
• a device processor coupled to said at least one actuator and to said at least one sensor and local to said force feedback interface device, said processor operative to output signals to said at least one actuator to control said forces and receive said sensor signal from said at least one sensor, wherein said processor is operative to determine a force value for a high frequency open loop effect based at least in part on a command received from said host computer, and wherein said processor does not determine force values for low frequency open loop effects and is operative to receive force values for low frequency open loop effects from said host computer, said processor operative to direct said force values for said high frequency open loop effects and low frequency open loop effects to said at least one actuator.

A force feedback interface device, said device in communication with a host computer, said host computer running and displaying a graphical environment, said force feedback interface device comprising:

• a user manipulatable object physically contacted by a user and moveable in at least one degree of freedom;
• at least one actuator operative to output forces, said forces felt by said user;
• at least one sensor operative to detect motion of said user manipulatable object in said at least one degree of freedom and outputting a sensor signal indicative of said motion;
• and
• a device processor coupled to said at least one actuator and to said at least one sensor and local to said force feedback interface device, said processor operative to output signals to said at least one actuator to control said forces and receive said sensor signal from said at least one sensor, wherein said processor is operative to determine a closed loop force value based at least in part on said sensor signal and outputs said closed loop force value, and wherein said processor does not compute any low frequency open loop force values and is operative to receive low frequency open loop force values from said host computer and direct said open loop force values to said at least one actuator.

A method for providing force feedback functionality on a host computer in a hybrid system including said host computer and a force feedback interface device, the method comprising:

• receiving on a driver program of said host computer a command to provide a force effect, said command provided by an application program running on said host computer;
• determining whether said commanded force effect is a high frequency open loop effect or a low frequency open loop effect;
• if said commanded force effect is a high frequency open loop effect, directing force information based on said command to said force feedback device to allow said force feedback device to compute force values for said high frequency open-loop effect and output said force values as forces to said user;
• and
• if said commanded force effect is a low frequency open loop effect,
• storing information included with said command in memory of said host computer;
• computing a force value of said low frequency open loop force effect by said driver using said information included with said command;
• and
• providing said force value to said force feedback device to allow said force feedback device to output said force value as a force to a user of said force feedback device.

A method for providing force feedback functionality on a host computer in a hybrid system including said host computer and a force feedback interface device, the method comprising:

• receiving on a driver program of said host computer a command to provide a force effect, said command provided by an application program running on said host computer;
• determining whether said commanded force effect is an open loop effect or a closed loop effect;
• if said commanded force effect is a closed loop effect or a high frequency open-loop effect, directing force information based on said command to said force feedback device to allow said force feedback device to compute force values for said closed loop effect or said high frequency open-loop effect;
• and
• if said commanded force effect is a low frequency open loop effect,
• storing information included with said command in memory of said host computer;
• computing a force value of said low frequency open loop force effect by said driver using said information included with said command;
• and
• providing said force value to said force feedback device to allow said force feedback device to output said force value as a force to a user of said force feedback device.

A haptic feedback interface device in communication with a host computer, said host computer running and displaying a graphical environment, said haptic feedback interface device comprising:

• at least one actuator operative to output forces, said forces felt by a user of said haptic feedback interface device;
• at least one sensor operative to detect manipulation of said haptic feedback interface device by said user and outputting a sensor signal indicative of said manipulation;
• and
• a processor in communication with said at least one actuator and said at least one sensor, said processor operative to output force values to said at least one actuator to control said forces and receive said sensor signal from said at least one sensor, wherein said processor is operative to determine a closed loop force value based at least in part on said sensor signal and output said closed loop force value to said at least one actuator, and wherein said microcontroller does not compute open loop force values but instead is operative to receive open loop force values from said host computer and direct said open loop force values to said at least one actuator, wherein said forces output by said at least one actuator are based on said closed loop force values and said open loop force values.