Development and structure evaluation of small sensor element for distributed-type tri-axial force sensor of robot finger

For the purpose of the development of a distributed-type tactile sensor for a robot finger, a small sensor element is developed, and an evaluation of its structure is carried out. In this paper, a small sensor element is presented the dimensions of which are 5 mm in length, 5 mm in width, and 1 mm in thickness. The sensor´s structure was evaluated by simulation and experiment from the viewpoints of strain gauge sensitivity, force sensitivity, conditional number, and rigidity. As a result, it was proven that the proposed sensor element could be miniaturized, and could measure tri-axial force.