Realization of bilateral control by compact solenoid actuators without position and force sensors

This study aims for the realization of a prototype tactile display which can interface with 2D haptic information. For this type of tactile display, multiple actuators with small volume and weight are required with the capability of position and force feedback control. The position and force sensors are usually large in terms of the volume. Thus, in this paper, compact solenoid actuators are used with a sensorless position and force estimation technique, and the estimated position and force information are used in bilateral control for communication of haptic information between master and slave actuators. A bilateral experimental system with master/slave actuators was constructed, and the experimental results indicated that the position and force were communicated in the master/slave system. As a result it was confirmed that the bilateral control was realized without position and force sensors with a small volume and light weight experimental setup.