Recent applications of force/torque sensors

It has become clear that through the use of force/torque sensing many previously uneconomical or unsuccessful applications can now be performed successfully. The earlier-anticipated boom of robots dominating factory production has not yet occured. Many robot installations have not met the initial expectations of users or have failed completely, souring the prospects of future robotic applications. Yet the reason many of these earlier applications have failed is very basic, that is that the robot was expected to blindly perform a task perfectly in an imperfect environment. There must be an additional level of feedback so that the robot may adapt to these imperfections, thus ensuring the ultimate success of the application. This additional level of real-world sensing is provided by force/torque sensors and their continued use will ensure the eventual proliferation of factory robots.