Patent ID: 7233313

Claim:
A device comprising: a manipulandum operable to be displaced in a degree of freedom; a means for sensing a displacement of said manipulandum in said degree of freedom; a means for selecting a mode associated with said displacement of said manipulandum in said degree of freedom, said mode comprising at least one of a position control mode and a rate control mode; an actuator operable to output a processor-controlled force sensation to said manipulandum, said force sensation associated with said mode; and a processor operable to receive a sensing signal from said sensing means and to output to the actuator a control signal associated with the sensing signal, the control signal operable to cause said actuator to output the processor-controlled force sensation, said processor further operable to associate a value with a position of said manipulandum in said position control mode and to control a rate of change of said value in said rate control mode.