Abstract
This paper describes the design of 3-component force/moment sensor with the force and moment ratio of wide range. It can measure the x-direction force Fx, y-direction force Fy and z-direction moment Mz simultaneously. In order to accurately measure forces and moment using 3-component force/moment sensor, it should get suitable force and moment ratio(the ratio of force Fx=200 N and moment Mz=20 Nm is ten to one), and small interference error. In this paper, in order to design the 3-component force/moment sensor with the force and moment ratio of wide range, the procedures are performed as follow : 1) the derivation of the equations to predict the bending strains on the surfaces of the plate-beams under the force or the moments, 2) the determination of the size of the sensing elements of the force/moment sensor by using the derived equations, 3) the Finite Element Method(FEM) analysis and the characteristic test for confirming the strains from the theory analysis, 4) the selection of the attachment locations of the strain gages of each sensor, 5) the analysis of the rated strain and the interference error at the attachment location of strain gages. It reveals that the rated strains calculated from the derived equations make a good agreement with the results from the Finite Element Method analysis and the characteristic test.