[ODE] Adding a good "feel" to a haptics device

[gl]

Interesting application.  I've played a little with force feedback (the MS
stick and Quake2) a while back, so I know a little about it.

The first thing I would try is use a much smaller timestep.  That way geom
intersections will be less deep when they're detected.

The other problem is the way ODE resolves intersections.  The deeper they
are, the more force is used to push the objects apart - I think this is why
you're getting too much force feedback.

What you really want to do is to not intersect deeply with objects in the
first place.  Using a v. small timestep you should be able to find a point
close to the actual 'touch'.  Then I would apply force feedback so that you
simply cannot violate the geom at all - ie. a brickwall force, rather than a
repelling force.

Does that make sense?
--
gl