A.M.L. Kappers et al. (Eds.): EuroHaptics 2010, Part II, LNCS 6192, pp. 418–425, 2010. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 Preliminary Evaluation of a Haptic Aiding Concept for Remotely Piloted Vehicles Samantha M.C. Alaimo 1,2 , Lorenzo Pollini 2 , Alfredo Magazzù 3 , Jean Pierre Bresciani 1 , Paolo Robuffo Giordano 1 , Mario Innocenti 2 , and Heinrich H. Bülthoff 1,4 1 Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Spemannstraße 38 72076 Tübingen, Germany 2 Dept. Electrical Systems and Automation, University of Pisa, Via Diotisalvi 2, 56126 Pisa, Italy 3 Cantieri Magazzù, Via Parrini 17, 90145 Palermo, Italy 4 Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Engineering, Korea University, Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-713 Korea {samantha.alaimo,jean-pierre.bresciani, paolo.robuffo-giordano,heinrich.buelthoff}@tuebingen.mpg.de, {lpollini,mario.innocenti}@dsea.unipi.it, amagazzu@magazzu.com Abstract. This paper shows a preliminary experimental evaluation of a novel haptic aiding for Remotely Piloted Vehicles. The aerodynamically-inspired haptic feedback law was named Conventional Aircraft Artificial Feel, and was implemented as a variable stiffness spring. The experimental set-up comprises a fully nonlinear mathematical model of the aircraft, a visual display and a haptic device (a 3 DoF Omega Device). The tests, performed using a set of 18 naïve subjects, show the validity of the proposed approach. Keywords: Remotely piloted vehicles, experimental evaluation, artificial feel. 1 Introduction The aim of this research is the investigation of possible haptic aidings for Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV). Nonetheless similar techniques could be employed in similar fields like Fly-By-Wire (FBW) piloted commercial aircrafts or helicopters. The FBW system employed both in large airliners and in military jet aircraft, dispenses all the complexity of the mechanical circuit of the mechanical flight control system and replaces it with an electrical circuit. The FBW makes use of an electronic passive sidestick, in place of the conventional control stick which was connected to the actual aerodynamic surfaces via mechanical linkages. The sidestick is in general implemented as a spring system with constant stiffness that makes the force felt by the pilot stronger as the displacement of the stick increases independently from the particular aerodynamic situation (velocity, load factor). Sometimes the sidestick may provide an artificial vibration of the stick (stick shaker) and some acoustical/visual