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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsGeorge Arthur Folchi, Glenmore Lorraine Shelton, Jr., Sherman Sheau-Ming Wang
Estimating the term…
A six degree of freedom force transducer is provided on a manipulator's hand and includes a plurality of I-beam modules having strain gauges on the flat surfaces of the thin legs of each I-beam for measuring the bending moments of each leg. According to one embodiment, a pair of strain gauges are located on each side of the leg, providing a total of four gauges in each leg. The end bells of each I-beam are adapted to be rigidly interconnected with either other I-beams, structural members of the manipulator fingers, the drive member for the manipulator, or to intermediate coupling blocks designed to rigidly interconnect I-beams. A plurality of I-beams and interconnecting blocks can be connected in various configurations to provide a determination by the strain gauges of the six components of forces and moments which are applied by forces and moments on the fingers of the manipulator system. The I-beams and interconnecting blocks are arranged in x-y-z orthogonal directions such that the structural stiffness is in the same order in different directions. The moment at each basic module can be measured by the voltage output of a bridge associated with the strain gauges. In this fashion, a determination of the position and orientation of an object in the manipulator's hand can be readily provided by a computer which solves the force and moment equilibrium equations associated with the I-beam strain gauges.
A multi-degree of freedom force sensor for providing force and moment data to determine the position and orientation of an object in the hand of a manipulator system, comprising a strain gauge assembly rigidly connected at a first end to said hand and rigidly connected at a second end to a drive member for said hand, said strain gauge assembly including a plurality of interconnected strain gauge modules, each of said strain gauge modules comprising a generally I-shaped beam having a thin central beam adapted for mounting strain gauges on its relatively wide, flat surfaces, and end portions of said I-beam providing means for rigidly interconnecting said strain gauge modules with the I-beam generally oriented at a 90.degree. twist and/or rotation from each other, whereby said strain gauge modules can be configured in block-like fashion to provide a strain gauge assembly with the desired number of degrees of freedom sensing.
A multi-degree of freedom force sensor for providing force and moment data for forces applied via a control means, comprising
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.