Abstract
This paper investigates the possibility of using haptic technology to facilitate developable surface design. A novel method is proposed that transforms the design constraint, i.e. developability, of a surface into haptic information. Instead of the traditional way that relies mainly on visual feedback, the generated haptic force feedback reinforces the user's sense of a surface's developability. This allows him/her intuitively to manipulate a surface to the desired shape while maintaining the surface developability to a specified degree. To verify this idea, an experiment is carried out with a prototype system to compare the user's performances on designing developable patches with and without haptic force feedback. The result has shown that when haptic force feedback is present, the user completes the design tasks in less time and with higher accuracy. This work demonstrates a potential of using haptic technology for physical modelling of freeform geometry. © IMechE 2009.