Patent ID: 6037927
Filing Date: 2000-03-14
Classification: A61B,B25J,G05B,G16H

Abstract:
A method for providing force feedback to a user of an interactive computer simulation, the method comprising:maintaining on a host computer having a display screen a virtual reality medical simulation suitable for representing a plurality of virtual reality objects within a graphical environment;coupling a human/computer interface with the host computer, the human/computer interface including at least a portion of a medical instrument suitable for manipulation by a user, an actuator arranged to generate force feedback to the user through the portion of the medical instrument in response to signals from the host computer, and a local microprocessor separate from the host computer and executing a local software routine at the same time as the maintaining of the virtual reality medical simulation by the host computer said local software routine operable to decode force commands transmitted from the host computer and related to the control of the actuator;representing the portion of the medical instrument as a virtual reality object within the virtual reality simulation, the virtual reality object having a simulated position corresponding to a position of the portion of the medical instrument;displaying on the display screen a graphical representation of the virtual reality simulation including a graphical object representing the portion of the medical instrument;detecting, at the human/computer interface, position information related to the portion of the medical instrument;transmitting position data from the human/computer interface to the host computer, the position data representing the position information related to the portion of the medical instrument;updating the virtual reality simulation such that the simulated position of the virtual reality object corresponds to the position data;receiving at the human/computer interface a force command from the host computer; andresponding to the force command with the local microprocessor including decoding the force command and controlling said actuator in accordance with the force command thereby providing force feedback to the user, wherein said force feedback is provided in coordination with the updating of said virtual reality medical simulation, thereby creating a feel sensation that corresponds with the virtual reality object encountering a different virtual object in said virtual reality medical simulation.