2025

Zhidchenko Victor; Startcev Egor; Handroos Heikki

Mobile machinery includes a wide range of machines performing specific operations in off-road environments for agriculture, mining, and construction. Haptic feedback is not widely used in mobile machinery due to several obstacles. One of them is the lack of methods for choosing efficient haptic cues that improve the operation of each type of machine. This paper considers the blindfolded operation of a machine as an approach that facilitates the development of efficient haptic feedback. The method includes the development of a haptic-only human-machine interface that makes possible blindfolded operation of the machine and subsequent interface simplification by excluding the signals, which become unnecessary in the presence of visual information.Two examples of developing haptic feedback for mobile cranes are presented. Commercially available haptic joysticks were used as the main controls. The haptic cues developed in the study allowed the transmission of 17 signals to an operator through the haptic joysticks, making the blindfolded virtual log crane operation possible. For a limited remote operation of a real crane, haptic cues for transmitting 6 signals were developed with the same approach. The efficiency of the developed haptic feedback was tested with a small group of participants in a real-time simulator of a log crane and in the remote operation of a real crane in a laboratory environment. The participants reported improved depth perception and lower stress levels in remote operation with haptic feedback. The described approach is not limited to mobile cranes and can be used in other types of mobile machinery.