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2478/msr-2013-0038
MEASUREMENT SCIENCE REVIEW, Volume 13, No. 5, 2013
This paper presents the design and analysis of a six-component Force/Torque (F/T) sensor whose design is based on the
mechanism of the Compliant Parallel Mechanism (CPM). The force sensor is used to measure forces along the x-, y-, and z-axis
(Fx, Fy and Fz) and moments about the x-, y-, and z-axis (Mx, My and Mz) simultaneously and to provide passive compliance during
parts handling and assembly. Particularly, the structural design, the details of the measuring principle and the kinematics are
presented. Afterwards, based on the Design of Experiments (DOE) approach provided by the software ANSYS®, a Finite Element
Analysis (FEA) is performed. This analysis is performed with the objective of achieving both high sensitivity and isotropy of the
sensor. The results of FEA show that the proposed sensor possesses high performance and robustness.
Keywords: Compliant Parallel Mechanism, Passive Compliant Assembly, Six-component F/T sensor.
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MEASUREMENT SCIENCE REVIEW, Volume 13, No. 5, 2013
Table 1. Comparisons on the multi-dimensional F/T sensor. based on a hyperstatic Stewart Platform. Parameter
optimization of the sensor structure was performed with
Size genetic algorithms, and the sensor shows good isotropy and
Sensitivity & Sensing
Year & Fabrication (mm) sensitivity performances [15]. Recently, Jia, Lin, and Liu
Measurement principl
developer technology & No.
of axes
range e introduced another type of Stewart Platform dedicated to
heavy six-axis load sharing measurement [16], [17]. With
1 mN and 2 mN
Bulk silicon
mm for force
single-component force piezoelectric sensor fixed in each
micro- 4.5 × limb, the sensor could measure six-component F/T with
1998 & Jin and moment Piezo-
machining and 4.5 ×
and Mote
wafer-bonding 1.2 & 6
components resistive linear and repeatability error of 1%. The comparisons of
(resolutions) & main features and characterization methods using a selection
technologies
n.a. of multi-dimensional F/T sensors up to the date of the
13mV/N in the publication are shown in Table 1.
CMOS Z-axis and Unfortunately, in force-sensing applications, the presence
process, about 2.3mv/N Piezo-
1999 & Mei
silicon bulk
4×4×2
in X- and Z-axis resistive of clearance, friction and backlash at the rigid mechanical
et al. &3 joints of parallel mechanisms will modify the axial forces
micro- & 0—50 N in
machining Z-axis, ±10N in that the limbs are subjected to, therefore, disturb the
X- and Y-axis performance of the sensor in unpredictable ways. To avoid
16 PF/N in Fz these problems, force-sensing candidate based on parallel
Bulk silicon 9×9×1
2012 & and 2.7PF/N mechanism is preferred to be designed with flexural joints,
Micro-
Brookhuis, machining and (PCB mm in Mx and Capaci- which eliminate the friction, backlash and wear and possess
chip) My & 50N in tive sub-micron accuracy with high resolution, continuous and
Lammerink silicon fusion
&3 Fz, ±25 N mm
bonding
in Mx and My
smooth displacement.
In this paper, modeling and performance evaluation of a
Four chip
novel six-component force/torque sensor based on
inductors, 3.2× 0.06 N
2009 & silicone gel, Inducti- compliant parallel mechanism is presented, which consists
2.5 × (resolution) & -
Takenawa, S. and a 2.2 & 3 40 N to 40 N
ve of three identical sensing limbs of type SPS (Spherical-
neodymium Prismatic-Spherical) and one central leg with three degrees
magnet of freedom. The compliant joints of the four limbs are
Three spoke 95%
structure, 40.25× (uncertainty) &
employed as active force-sensing portions. By the electric
2011 & M. Strain measurement technique of strain gauge, the developed
Gobbi et al.
standard 16 × 16 10 kN (Fz), 5
gauge sensor can provide high-performance force/torque
mechanical &6 kN (Fx, Fy) and
machining 0.5 kNm (M) information, and the calibration experiment shows that the
Parallel Fx=Fy=20kgf, presented sensor possesses positive characteristics such as
170×10
2004 & Liu, support
5×26.5
Fz=l00kgf, and Strain high stiffness and sensitivity, weak couplings, and good
Inoue et al. mechanism & Mx=My=Mz=l0 gage isotropy.
&6
machining 0 Nm
Three 2. ARCHITECTURE DESCRIPTION OF THE SENSOR
elastomers in a 0.3% & 100 kgf
flexed spoke and 300kgfcm The proposed force-sensing element is based on spatial
1990 & parallel compliant mechanism with three identical sensing
shape & Φ76×4 for parallel and
Hirose and Optical
Yoneda
milling and 0&6 rotating limbs of type SPS and one central limb with three DOFs
electric directions, connecting the mobile platform and the base. Each sensing
discharge respectively
machining limb consists of two three-axis flexural joints as spherical
joints at its both ends and a one-axis flexural joint as a
linear error and
the repeatability
prismatic joint in the middle. After neglecting the redundant
Stewart error of 1%, degrees of freedom about the lines passing through the two
small
platform & interference spherical joints, the total degree of freedom of each limb is
2010 & Jia, than Piezo-
standard error of 4.5% equal to six. Therefore, these limbs impose no constraint on
Lin, and Liu Φ160 × electric
mechanical & 40kN and the moving platform. The central limb consists of a large-
210
machining 5kNm for force
and moment displacement compliant universal joint and a large-
components displacement compliant revolute joint, and it has
connectivity of three and imposes three constraints on the
moving platform. Fig.1. shows a 3D model of the proposed
Ranganath, Mruthyunjaya and Ghosal analyzed and sensor.
designed a SP-based force/torque sensor in a near-singular
configuration with high sensitivity [12]. Nguyen, Antrazi
and Zhou presented the kinematic analysis of a 6 DOF
force/torque sensor based on the mechanism of the Stewart
Platform and composed of two platforms coupled together
by 6 spring-loaded pistons [13]. Dasgupta, Reddy and
Mruthyunjaya presented a design methodology for the
Stewart Platform sensor structure based on the optimal
conditioning of the force transformation matrix [14]. Hou, Fig.1. Six-component force/torque sensor based on compliant
Zeng, Yao et al. presented a six-component F/T sensor parallel mechanism.
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MEASUREMENT SCIENCE REVIEW, Volume 13, No. 5, 2013
d 2δ y L L (5)
EI = Fy − Fy ( L − x ) = Fy ( x − )
dx 2 2 2
The slope and deflection at the free end of the beam can be
obtained
Fy 1 2 L
θ x=L
= ( x − x) = 0 (8)
EI 2 2
Fy 1 3 L 2 L3
(a) (b) (c) δy x= L
= ( x − x ) = − Fy (9)
EI 6 4 12 EI
Fig.3. Compliant joints used in the design: (a) compliant spherical
joint; (b) compliant prismatic joint; (c) compliant spherical joint for The compliant spherical joint for central limb used in this
central limb. study, which was designed by Trease [25], [26], is shown in
Fig.3(c).
My Mx Et 7 /2 (2)
= ≈
θy θx 20 R1/ 2
Fx Fy Et 7/ 2
= ≈ (3)
θy θx 20 R 3/ 2 Fig.4. The configuration of the cantilever.
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MEASUREMENT SCIENCE REVIEW, Volume 13, No. 5, 2013
3. KINEMATICS The angle αi, βi represent the angle between x-axis and the
The pseudo-rigid-body model provides a simple method of line OAi and the angle between u-axis and the line PPi,
analyzing compliant systems that undergo large, nonlinear respectively. So, the position vector Ai with respect to frame
deflections and is used to model the deflection of flexible O and Pi with respect to frame G can be written as
members using rigid-body components that have equivalent
force-deflection characteristics. Therefore, rigid-link Ai = [e ⋅ cαi e ⋅ sα i 0]T , for i=1, 2, 3 (10)
mechanism theory may be used to analyze the compliant
mechanism [31], [32]. Pi = [q ⋅ cβi q ⋅ sβi 0]T , for i=1, 2, 3 (11)
P3 P2 A2
q
G β2 v y
u O α2
e x
P1 A3 Fig.7. Coordinate frames of the central limb.
A1
(a) (b)
Hence, the D-H transformation matrices from the moving
Fig.6. Top views of the mobile platform (a) and the base (b). platform to the fixed base can be obtained [33].
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MEASUREMENT SCIENCE REVIEW, Volume 13, No. 5, 2013
Table 2. The D-H parameters of the passive constraining limb. B. Jacobian matrix
Since the mechanism possesses only three rotational
i ai di αi θi
degrees of freedom, the input vector can be written as the
1 0 l1 0 θ1 T
2 0 0 -π/2 θ2 extension rate of the sensing limbs d& = d&1 , d&2 , d&3 , and the
3 0 0 -π/2 θ3 output vector can be presented as the angular velocity of the
G 0 l4 0 0
moving platform, X & = ω , ω , ω T By using the velocity
x y z
vector-loop method, we can obtain the Jacobian matrix of
the mechanism A without the passive leg,
O R OG
O
TP = T1T2T3TP = P & = d&
0 1 AX (20)
cθ1cθ 2 cθ 3 cθ sθ cθ1cθ 2 sθ 3 l4 (-cθ 3 sθ1
+ sθ1 sθ 3 1 2
- sθ1cθ 3 + cθ1cθ 2 sθ 3 ) (14)
Where
sθ cθ cθ sθ cθ sθ l4 ( cθ1cθ 3
= -cθ sθ sθ1 sθ 2 1 2 3
1 2 3
sθ1cθ 3 + cθ 2 sθ1 sθ 3 )
- s1T ( P1 × s1 )
T
1 3
sθ 2 cθ3 -cθ 2 sθ 2 sθ 3 l1 + l4 sθ 2 sθ 3 T
A = s 2T ( P2 × s2 ) (21)
s3T ( P3 × s3 )
0 0 0 1 T
Comparing (13) to (14), one can yield And si is the unit vector pointing along the ith limb.
The Jacobian matrix of the passive constraining leg of the
θ2 = cos −1 (cθ sψ ) (15) mechanism B can be expressed as
sθ cψ −sθ e e2 e3
θ3 = Atan2( , ) (16) B= 1
sθ 2 cθ 2 e1 × r1 e2 × r2 e3 × r3
l4 (−cθ1cθ3 l cθ sθ sθ l4 (cθ1cθ 2 cθ3
−cθ 2 sθ1sθ3 ) 4 1 2 3 + sθ1sθ3 )
sφ sθ sψ + cφ cψ sφ cθ (22)
θ1 = Atan2( , ) (17)
l4 (− sθ1cθ3 −l4 sθ 2 sθ1sθ3 l4 (cθ 2 cθ3 sθ1
sθ 2 sθ 2
−cθ1cθ 2 sθ3 ) −cθ1sθ3 )
= 0 l4 cθ 2 sθ3 l4 cθ3 sθ 2
The inverse kinematics problem can be simply stated as: 0 sθ1 cθ1sθ 2
0 −cθ1 cθ1sθ 2
given the independent parameters, ψ, θ, Φ, to find the
corresponding lengths of the actuated limbs: 1 0 −cθ 2
d i = [G − Ai + O RP P Pi ]T [G − Ai + O RP P Pi ] (18) Hence,
cθ 2 cθ (23)
θ&1 = cθ1 ω1 + sθ1 2 ω2 + ω3
sθ 2 sθ2
For the forward kinematics, the limb lengths l1, l2, and l3
are given and the problem is to find the orientation of the θ&2 = sθ1ω1 − cθ1ω2 (24)
mobile platform. (18) is written in the following form [33]:
cθ1 sθ
θ&3 = ω1 + 1 ω2 (25)
sθ 2 sθ 2
µi1cθ1cθ2cθ3 + µi 2 sθ1cθ2cθ3 + µi3sθ1sθ3
+ µi 4cθ1sθ3 + µi 5 sθ1sθ2 + µi 6cθ1sθ2 for i=1, 2, 3 (19)
J, a 3x3 Jacobian matrix, relating the independent velocity
+ µi 7 cθ3 sθ3 + µi8cθ2 + µi 9 = 0 & , to the vector of sensing
variables of mobile platform, X
&.
limb rates, d
Where µij are constant coefficients that are determined by
d& = A s X
J & & = JX
&
= AJ t X (26)
the manipulator geometry and input leg lengths [33]. I 3×3
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MEASUREMENT SCIENCE REVIEW, Volume 13, No. 5, 2013
Where, Jt, a 6×3 Jacobian matrix, relating the velocity state 4) Voltage output to F/T output: besides common signal
T conditioning and signal processing, nonlinear decoupling
of the moving platform, vG = G& x G& y G& z , to the
and calibration are necessary due to the nonlinear coupling
vector of sensing limb extension rates. And Js, a 3×3 error, which seriously decreases the sensor measurement
Jacobian matrix, relating the three independent velocities &
X precision..
to the three dependent velocities vG , which could be
obtained through (22) to (25).
4. MEASURING PRINCIPLE
Several measurement techniques have been used to
transduce the interaction between a contacting load and a
F/T sensor into multi-dimensional force and torque. The
transduction method which has received most attention in
F/T sensor design is concerned with the conductive and
resistive approach. Strain gauges commonly act as sensing
elements on devices for measuring force in conductive and
Fig.8. Structure of measurement chain.
resistive approach. The measurement chain consists of
several elements from true load to measured F/T, as shown
in Fig.8. The succession of conversions for a single strain When resistive moments are exerted on the mobile
gauge is the following. platform, the compliant prismatic joints in each sensing limb
1) Load to elastic strain: mechanical stress occurs when are compressed or extended. Therefore, the moving platform
load F acts on the elastic element of the sensor, and specific possesses three degrees of freedom in micro-scale spherical
deformation and elastic strain will occur accordingly, motion. Hence the force sensor can provide passive
following the Hook’s law of elasticity. The quality of the compliance to the mobile platform during parts assembly.
By the virtual work principle, we can obtain
occurred stain ε only relates to the applied force/torque F
after the dimensions of the force-sensing element are
decided. wT ∆X = f T ∆d (31)
ε = χ (F ) (27) where w=[Mx, My, Mz]T is the vector of the moment applied
to the platform, and f=[f1,f2,f3]T represents the force that the
2) Elastic strain to variation of resistance: occurred strain sensing limb is subjected to. Where ∆X , ∆d represent the
will result in variation of relative resistance of strain gauges vector of virtual displacements associated with the mobile
bonded on the force-sensing element. The gauge factor, platform and sensing limbs, respectively. (31) can be
denoted by Gf, is defined mathematically as follows [34]. rewritten as
3) Resistance change to output voltage variation: Full- A. Attachment of position of stain gauges
bridge circuits, as a ratiometric device, increase further the The central limb restricts the sensor’s freedom of
sensitivity of the circuit. And its measurement sensitivity is: displacements along x-, y-, and z-axis. Therefore, the force
Fx, Fy, and Fz applied on the mobile platform will be
∆U transmitted through the central limb. Finite Element
= −G f ⋅ ε = −G f ⋅ χ ( F ) (30)
U Analysis (FEA) via software ANSYS® was performed and
the distributions of the normal elastic strains occurring on
Where ∆U and U are output of the circuit and voltage the CPM under sign-dimensional force/torque are shown in
excitation source, respectively. the Fig.9.
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MEASUREMENT SCIENCE REVIEW, Volume 13, No. 5, 2013
(a)
(a)
(b)
(b)
(d)
Fig.11. Wheatstone bridges connection mode.
Fig.9. The strain produced in the CPM by the force Fx (a), When the sensor is applied to single force/torque Fx, Fy, Fz
the force Fz (b), the moment Mx (c) and Mz (d). respectively, corresponding output of each bridge is:
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MEASUREMENT SCIENCE REVIEW, Volume 13, No. 5, 2013
2
Therefore, the compliance of the ith limb is given by
U ∆R ∆R ∆R ∆R
∆Ulimb3 = 31 − 32 + 33 − 34 m
4 R31 R32 R33 R34 Ci = ∑ J ij cij J ijT (45)
j =1
U ∆R31 ∆R32 (39)
= 2 − 2
4 R31 ε R32 ε From the kinematic analysis, the mobile platform and tips
of limbs have the same angular displacements but different
UK
= (ε 31 + ε 32 ) linear displacements. Particularly, the displacement vector
2 of the CPM in X and the displacement vector of the tip of
the ith limb Xi can be transformed reciprocally,
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λ I C1
F = CS = 3×3 S (51)
C2 λ J
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported in part by the National Nature
Science Foundation of China (NSFC 61203207), specialized
Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher
Education (No. 20120161120015), Hunan province Science
(d)
and Technology Planning Project of China (2012RS4046)
and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2012M510189,
Fig.12. The flexible deformation of the CPM under applied force 2013T60768). The second author appreciates the financial
Fx=1N (a), the force Fz=1N (b), the moment Mx =0.05N·m(c) and support from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Mz =0.05 N·m (d). Council of Canada (NSERC).
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