Efficient and Accurate Simulation of Friction using a Multi-asperity Surface Contact Model

Abstract. This paper describes a new friction model, called the “brush model“, suitable for haptic rendering in virtual environments. A novel two-layer multiasperity surface contact model is presented that provides real-time rendering of friction forces at haptic refresh rates. This new friction model has several advantages; of particular importance is the accuracy with which it handles static friction and the transition to sliding motion. This paper focuses on one such feature of static friction, namely the undesirable motion drift artefact; results are presented which show that our model behaves correctly. Issues relating to implementation of the friction model in virtual environments are also discussed. 1