Towards multimodal haptics for teleoperation: Design of a tactile thermal display

Surgical robotics is among the most challenging applications of motion control. Present and future systems are essentially master-slave systems. Our work focuses on force-feedback and haptic interfaces. In this context, we study multimodal haptic interfaces, i.e. the fusion of force-feedback, with other tactile information such as temperature or pressure. First results support the proposition that such multimodal haptic devices can help improve surgeon's dexterity and motion control. In order to strengthen this point, we investigate the psychophysics of thermal perception. This paper presents a device for temperature feedback that can be integrated in a multimodal haptic console. A finger sized tactile temperature display able to generate temperature gradients under the fingertip is presented along with first measurement results.