“Understanding the Utility of Haptic Feedback in Telerobotic Devices”
Presented by Professor Jeremy Brown
John C. Malone Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
The human body is capable of dexterous manipulation in many different environments. Some environments, however, are challenging to access because of distance, scale, and limitations of the body itself. In many of these situations, access can be effectively restored via a telerobot. Dexterous manipulation through a telerobot is possible only if the telerobot can accurately relay any sensory feedback resulting from its interactions in the environment to the operator. In this talk, I will discuss recent work from our lab focused on the application of haptic feedback in various telerobotic applications. I will begin by describing findings from recent investigations comparing different haptic feedback approaches for upper-extremity prosthetic limbs, as well as the cognitive load of haptic feedback in these prosthetic devices. I will then discuss recent discoveries on the potential benefits of haptic feedback in robotic minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS) training. Finally, I will conclude with a discussion of current efforts in our lab to measure haptic perception through telerobotic interfaces.
Jeremy D. Brown is the John C. Malone Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University where he directs the Haptics and Medical Robotics (HAMR) Laboratory. He is also a member of the Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics (LCSR) and the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare. Prior to joining Hopkins, Jeremy was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in the Haptics Research Group, which is part of Penn’s General Robotics, Automation, Sensing, and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. He also holds B.S. degrees in Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering from Morehouse College and the University of Michigan, respectively as a graduate of the Atlanta University Center’s Dual Degree Engineering Program. Brown’s team uses methods from human perception, motor control, neurophysiology, and biomechanics to study the human perception of touch, especially as it relates to applications of human-robot interaction and collaboration. He has been honored to receive several awards including the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, the best student paper award at the 2012 IEEE Haptics Symposium, the Penn Postdoctoral Fellowship for Academic Diversity, and the NSF CRII Award. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) Robotics and Automation Society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Brown’s work has appeared in a number of peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation, IEEE Transactions on Haptics, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, and IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.