Patent ID: 7821496

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a manipulandum oriented along a longitudinal axis; a linkage coupled to the manipulandum, the linkage configured to allow the manipulandum to move in at least two rotational degrees of freedom with respect to ground, the linkage further configured to allow the manipulandum to move in a translational degree of freedom through an aperture of a portion of the linkage along the longitudinal axis, the linkage including a plurality of elements, at least a subset of elements from the plurality of elements being flexible and moveable to allow said manipulandum to move in at least one of said at least two degrees of freedom with respect to ground; and at least one sensor configured to detect at least one of a position and a movement of the manipulandum in the at least two degrees of freedom and output a sensor signal based on the detected at least one of the position and the movement.