Force Sensors

▪ The capacity to measure forces permits the robot to perform a

number of tasks.
▪ It gives the capability to grasp parts of different sizes in
material handling, machine loading and assembly work.
▪ There are three techniques used for force sensing in robotics.
 Wrist sensing
▪ The purpose of a force sensing wrist is to provide information
about three components of force and moments being applied at
the end effector.
▪ The sensors like strain gauge are mounted between the tip of the
robot arm and the and the end effector.

Joint sensing
▪ The torque exerted by the motor is proportional to the current
flowing through the armature for the robot using dc servomotors.
▪ The current is measured by the voltage drop across a small
precision resistor in series with the motor and power amplifier.
 Tactile array sensors
▪ A tactile array sensor is a special type of force sensor
composed of a matrix of force sensing elements.
▪ The force data provided by this type of device may be
combined with pattern recognition techniques to describe a
number of characteristics about the impression contacting
the array sensor surface.
Touch sensor

▪ Touch sensors are used to indicate the contact between two

objects without regard to the magnitude of the contacting
force.
▪ It can be used to indicate to indicate the presence or absence
of parts in a fixture.
▪ The examples of touch sensors are limit switch and micro
switch.
 Potentiometer

▪ A potentiometer converts
position information into a
variable voltage through a
resistor.
▪ The output is proportional to
the resistance.

Vcc R1
VOUT =
R