Introduction to Haptics

Students in this class will learn how to build, program, and control haptic devices, which are mechatronic devices that allow users to feel virtual or remote environments. In the process, students will gain an appreciation for the capabilities and limitations of human touch, develop an intuitive connection between equations that describe physical interactions and how they feel, and gain practical interdisciplinary engineering skills related to robotics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, bioengineering, and computer science. We will send each student a free Hapkit to be assembled, tested, and programmed at home. Laboratory assignments using Hapkit will give students hands-on experience in assembling mechanical systems, making circuits, programming Arduino-based micro-controllers, and testing their haptic creations. After the class, we hope that you will continue to use and modify your Hapkit, and let us know about your haptic creations.

LIMITED ENROLLMENT

Enrollment is limited to 100 students physically located in the US for this first offering, and an application (due Oct. 28 at 11:00 pm PDT) is required. If you click the "Register for Haptics" button above, you will receive a message that enrollment is closed. You must first complete the application to be considered for this offering. If your application is accepted, you will receive an email invitation to join the course.

PREREQUISITES

The required background for this course is high-school physics (non-calculus is fine) and pre-calculus. Programming is experience is helpful, but not required. Haptic device design, robotics, and mechatronics experience are not required -- this is designed as a gateway course for these topics.