Force sensor with enhanced contact detection capability

In many fields precise contact force measurement is required, especially in robotic manipulation tasks. The measurement range varies depending on the application. If the mesaured range is rather large, contact detection can represent a problem since the sensor will not be able to detect the contact before too large force is applied. In this paper a sensor is presented which is able to measure both small and large forces using a single sensor structure. It is based on elastic elements and a single optoelectronic component.