CHAI3D - The Open Source Haptic Framework
-----------------------------------------


Introduction
============


First launched in 2003 at the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence 
Laboratory at Stanford University, CHAI3D is a powerful cross-platform 
C++ simulation framework with over 100+ industries and research 
institutions developing CHAI3D based applications all around the world 
in segments such as automotive, aerospace, medical, entertainment and 
industrial robotics.

Designed as a platform agnostic framework for computer haptics, 
visualization and interactive real-time simulation, CHAI3D is an open 
source framework that supports a variety of commercially-available 
three-, six- and seven-degree-of-freedom haptic devices, and makes it 
simple to support new custom force feedback devices.

CHAI3D's modular capabilities allows for the creation of highly-performing 
native haptic applications as well as for hybrid development where you 
can choose which components provide the best haptic and visual user 
experience.



Learning Resources
==================

* General information is available at the CHAI3D Homepage.

  http://www.chai3d.org


* Community discussion takes place on the CHAI3D Forum.

  http://www.chai3d.org/forum/index


* Commercial support is available from Force Dimension.

  http://www.forcedimension.com


* Doxygen-generated reference documentation is available online.

  http://www.chai3d.org/download/doc/html/wrapper-overview.html


* Instructions on how to get started can be found in the 
  documentation folder.

  doc/getting-started.html



Modules
=======

Support and examples for extension frameworks can be found in the 
dedicated module folders:

  modules/BULLET
  modules/GEL
  modules/OCULUS   (Visual Studio 2015 only)
  modules/ODE
  modules/V-REP 



Haptic Devices and Trackers
===========================

CHAI3D supports a selection of commercial haptic devices and trackers.
Information about their installation and support within CHAI3D can be 
found in the documentation folder.

  doc/html/chapter2-installation.html



Contributing
============

If you have developed a new module or improved any of the capabilities of
CHAI3D and would like to share them with the community, please contact our 
development team at [email protected]



Reporting Bugs
==============

If you have found a bug:

1. Please join the CHAI3D forum and ask about the expected and observed 
   behaviors to determine if it is really a bug

2. If you have identified a problem and managed to document it, you may
   also submit a report at [email protected]



License
=======

CHAI3D is open source software and is licensed under the Revised BSD 
License (3-clause). The license allows unlimited redistribution for 
any purpose as long as its copyright notices and the license's 
disclaimers of warranty are maintained. The license also contains a 
clause restricting use of the names of contributors for endorsement of 
a derived work without specific permission. 

See copyright.txt for details.



Reference
=========

For scientific publications, please reference CHAI3D:

@INPROCEEDINGS{Conti03,
  author    = {Conti, F. and Barbagli, F. and Balaniuk, R. 
               and Halg, M. and Lu, C. and Morris, D. 
               and Sentis, L. and Warren, J. and Khatib, O. 
               and Salisbury, K.},
  title     = {The CHAI libraries},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of Eurohaptics 2003},
  year      = {2003},
  pages     = {496--500},
  address   = {Dublin, Ireland}
}



________________________
(C) 2003-2016 by CHAI3D
All Rights Reserved.