Design and implementation of a haptic-based virtual assembly system

Purpose - Haptics can significantly enhance the user's sense of immersion and interactivity. Especially in an assembly task, haptic feedback can help designers to have a better understanding of virtual objects and to increase task efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the design and implementation of a haptic-based virtual assembly system (HVAS). Design/methodology/approach - A multi-thread system structure was designed, an automatic data integration interface was developed to transfer geometry, topology, assembly and physics information from a computer-aided design system to virtual reality application, and a hierarchical constraint-based data model and scene graph structure was designed to construct the virtual assembly environment. Unlike traditional virtual assembly systems based on collision detection or geometry constraint only, a physics-based modeling approach combining with haptic feedback and geometry constraint was undertaken to realize and guide the realistic assembly process. When two parts collide into each other, the force and torque can be computed and provide feedback, and a spring-mass model is used to prevent penetration and simulate dynamic behaviour. When two parts are close enough to each other and the assembly simulation state is activated, a geometry constraint can be captured, an attractive force can be generated to guide the user to assemble the part along the correct position, and the repulsive force can also be generated to realize the mating process as natural and realistic as in real life. Findings - The implementation details and application examples demonstrate that haptic-based virtual assembly is a valuable tool for assembly design and process planning. Originality/value - The paper presents an HVAS.