INTEGRATION OF AN OPTICAL FORCE SENSOR INTO THE ACTUATION MODULE OF THE DEXMART HAND

In this paper, the force sensor developed for the so called twisted string actuation system of the DEXMART Hand is described. The proposed solution makes use of optoelectronic components for measuring the deformation of a properly designed motor module structure caused by the force applied on the transmission system. The paper reports a detailed overview of the motor module design, of the integrated force sensor, the basic sensor working principle and the optimization both of the flexible structure and of the optoelectronic components positioning. Moreover, the proposed sensor has been used for controlling a complete robotic finger: the results of the experiments that show the performance of the DEXMART Hand actuation force control system using the force sensor described in this paper is reported.