AUCTUS haptic study: best model depends on environment and task

A new study from AUCTUS researchers presents guidelines for selecting haptic guidance models in teleoperation, based on a comparative user study with 30 participants performing vertical farming tasks. The paper unifies three common models—spring-damper, potential field, and guiding tube—into a single stiffness-damping framework with model-specific guiding functions, making direct comparison possible. Each model was tested across six environmental scenarios varying in clutter, obstacle density, and free space availability, with performance measured using both traditional task completion metrics and novel objective interaction metrics.

The results challenge the idea of a one-size-fits-all solution. The spring-damper model significantly outperformed others in cluttered environments by providing stable, corrective forces that helped operators avoid collisions. In free spaces, the potential field model enabled faster and more intuitive movements, but its performance degraded near obstacles where attraction forces could pull operators into danger. The guiding tube model offered a balanced trade-off suitable for mixed environments. Importantly, the team found that guiding force magnitude directly correlates with operator comfort and trust scores, providing a real-time evaluation metric for model tuning. These findings enable engineers to choose the right haptic model based on environmental characteristics and operator feedback, improving safety and efficiency in domains from agriculture to remote surgery.