Currently we have a system that:
● Builds a virtual 3D world model. This model is build as a mesh on which colour information is projected, based on measurements from a rgbd sensor (a kinect for now).
● Has a robotic arm which can be controlled with haptic feedback in the real world and has a virtual representation in the virtual world.
The goal of this assignment is to use the interaction between the robot arm and the real world to do a live estimation of the physical properties of objects (stiffness, weight, inertia, damping) and to use this to assign physical properties to the same objects in the virtual world.
An interesting use-case to start with could be a series of “beams” with different stiffness properties.
The main research question: How can we practically measure and include physical properties in a virtual world?