Estimation of the physical properties of an object through interaction

Abstract

Creating a local model of a remote environment is a way to reduce latency in tactile internet. This local model contains properties that are estimated by a nonintrusive estimation method. To prevent the model from deviating increasingly from reality, the estimates should be updated once an interaction begins. This research paper investigates how the physical properties of a remote object can be estimated. This is done by exerting forces and observing the resulting motion. The physical properties that are updated include the mass and center of mass. These values are calculated to converge toward the actual value. The mass can be estimated by observing the linear motion, for which the game engine Unity is used. For the center of mass estimation, it is advised to take a different approach, since the values received by Unity were not enough to base an estimate on. This paper also investigates the influence of update frequency on estimation accuracy and the inaccuracies that the Unity physics engine presents.