The author describes the design and implementation of a pair of sophisticated robot fingers that enable the sensing of information from three axes of force and three axes of torque using piezoresistive strain gauges as sensing elements with conversion to frequency as the output. The fingers may be mounted on a servo-controlled robot gripper and interfaced with a robot controller to serve as an active compliance device for small-part assembly tasks. This force/torque sensor with frequency output using an RC oscillation principle has demonstrated great advantages in signal conditioning and processing relative to conventional voltage output techniques. The design of robotic fingers and multiaxis force/torque sensors with signal conditioning/processing, and data acquisition with a microprocessor system are described. A description of the test results is also presented.
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