Thermal bilateral control for reproduction of thermal contact between remote places

Haptic sense has recently been getting attention as the third multimedia information in the communication engineering, and this research focuses on the transmission of thermal sensation which is one of the components of the tactile sensation. For the transmission of the sensation, this research utilizes Peltier device as a thermal actuator. Then, the temperature and heat flow of master and slave system are simultaneously controlled to reproduce the thermal admittance of objects on the systems mutually. In the control system, some observers are constructed for compensation of control system or information obtainment on heat flowing into the system. By using the constructed system, it becomes possible to realize the state that the objects on the systems exchange heat as if these were directly contacted. The validity of the proposed system is shown by experimental results.