Educational haptics
Hapkit: Haptic Kit
Hapkit is an open-hardware haptic device designed to be very low-cost and easy to assemble. Hapkit allows users to input motions and feel programmed forces in one degree of freedom. This enables interactive simulation of virtual environments that represent realistic physics (such as springs and dampers) and creative new touch sensations (like textures and buttons). The Hapkit can be assembled using household tools, costs less than $50 for all components, including the microcontroller board, and is easily set up and programmed by novices. In Fall 2013 we piloted the Hapkit in a new online class on haptics; this is the ideal topic on which to launch a laboratory course within the current online learning revolution.
Relevant recent papers:
R. Bloom, Z. Huang, K. Lavarias, M. Ren, and T.K. Morimoto. "H3Kit: Hand-Held Haptic Kit for STEM Education." In IEEE Haptics Symposium, 2024. *Best Paper Finalist*
T.K. Morimoto, M.O. Martinez, R. Davis, P. Blikstein, A.M. Okamura. "Teaching with Hapkit: Enabling Online Haptics Courses with Hands-on Laboratories." IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine (2020).
M.O. Martinez, C. M. Nunez, T. Liao, T. K. Morimoto, and A.M. Okamura. "Evolution and Analysis of Hapkit: An Open-Source Haptic Device for Educational Applications." IEEE Transactions on Haptics (2019).