Design and integration of a 3-D force sensor

A force sensor is described which measures three-dimensional forces (three forces and three moments), excludes the unwanted inertial effects of a robot's hand mass, and has output that can be coupled to reduce the processing of force data. A simple second-order mass-spring model of sensor performance is introduced and used to evaluate the effect of sensor location on performance. Ways to improve the integration of the sensor into a robot control system are discussed, including measuring forces as close to the point of load application as possible, processing force data at the sensor, and shifting force control from the robot to a microprocessor and dedicated actuators.