• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.94-103
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• 1996

This paper is concerned with the theroretical and experimental study on the force control of a miniature robotic finger that grasps an object at three other positions with the fingertip. The artificial finger is uniform flexible cantilever beam equipped with a distributed set of compact grasping force secnsors. Control action is applied by a qiexoceramic bimorph strip placed at the base of the finger. The mathematical model of the assembled electro-mechanical system is developed. The distributed sensors are described by a set of concentrated mass-spring system. The formulated equations of motion are then applied to a control problem which the finger is commanded to grasp an object The PID-controller is introduced to drive the finger. The usefulness of the proposed control technique is verified by simulation and experiment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.1 s.190
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• pp.27-36
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• 2007

This paper describes the development of 6-axis ankle force/moment sensor for the intelligent feet of a humanoid robot. When the robot walks on uneven terrain, the feet should perceive the applied forces Fx, Fy, Fz and moments Mx, My, Mz from the attached 6-axis force/moment sensor on their ankles. Papers have already been published have some disadvantages in the size of the sensor, the rated output and so on. The rated output of each component sensor (6-axis ankle force/moment sensor) is very important to design the 6-axis force/moment sensor for precision measurement. Therefore, each sensor should be designed to get the similar rated output under each rated load. Also, the size of the sensor is very important for mounting to robot's feet. Therefore, the diameter should be below 100 mm and the height should be below 40mm. In this paper, first, the structure of a 6-axis ankle force/moment sensor was modeled for a humanoid robot's feet newly, Second, the equations to predict the strains on the sensing elements was derived, third, the size of the sensing elements was designed by using the equations, then, the sensor was fabricated by attaching straingages on the sensing elements, finally, the characteristic test of the developed sensor was carried out. The rated outputs from the derived equations agree well with the results from the experiments. The interference error of the sensor is less than 2.94%.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.142-149
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• 2009

This paper proposes and demonstrates novel flexible contact force sensing devices for 3-dimensional force measurement. To realize the sensor, polyimide and polydimethylsiloxane are used as a substrate, which makes it flexible. Thin-film metal strain gauges, which are incorporated into the polymer, are used for measuring the three-dimensional contact forces. The force sensor characteristics are evaluated against normal and shear load. The fabricated force sensor can measure normal loads up to 4N. The sensor output signals are saturated against load over 4N. Shear loads can be detected by different voltage drops in strain gauges. The device has no fragile structures; therefore, it can be used as a ground reaction force sensor for balance control in humanoid robots. Four force sensors are assembled and placed in the four corners of the robot's sole. By increasing bump dimensions, the force sensor can measure load up to 20N. When loads are exerted on the sole, the ground reaction force can be measured by these four sensors. The measured forces can be used in the balance control of biped locomotion system.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1097-1102
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• 2007

This paper describes the development of 6-axis force/moment sensor for an intelligent robot's foot. In order to walk on uneven terrain safely, the foot should perceive the applied forces Fx, Fy, Fz and moments Mx, My, Mz to itself. The applied forces and moments should be measured from a 6-axis force/moment sensor attached to a humanoid robot's foot(ankle). They in the published paper already have some disadvantage in the size of the sensor, the rated output and so on. The rated output of each component sensor (6-axis force/moment sensor) is very important to design the 6-axis force/moment sensor for precision measurement. Therefore, each sensor should be designed to be gotten similar the rated output under each rated load. So, the sensing elements of the 6-axis force/moment sensor should get lots of design variables. Also, the size of 6- axis force/moment sensor is very important for mounting to robot's foot. In this paper, a 6-axis force/moment sensor for perceiving forces and moments in a humanoid robot's foot was developed using many PPBs (parallel plate-beams). The structure of the sensor was newly modeled, and the sensing elements (plate-beams) of the sensor were designed using FEM (Finite Element Method) analysis. Then, the 6-axis force/moment sensor was fabricated by attaching strain-gages on the sensing elements, and the characteristic test of the developed sensor was carried out. The rated outputs from FEM analysis agree well with that from the characteristic test.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.7 s.196
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• pp.90-97
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• 2007

This paper describes the development of 6-axis force/moment sensor considered adult weight far an intelligent foot of humanoid robot. In order to walk on uneven terrain safely, the foot should perceive the applied forces Fx, Fy, Fz and moments Mx, My, Mz to itself and control the foot using the forces and moments. The applied forces and moments should be measured from a 6-axis force/moment sensor attached to the foot, which is composed of Fx sensor, Fy sensor, Fz sensor, Mx sensor, My sensor and Mz sensor in a body. Each sensor should get the deferent rated load, because the applied forces and moments to foot in walking are deferent. Therefore, one of the important things in the sensor is to design each sensor with the deferent rated load and the same rated output. In this paper, a 6-axis force/moment sensor (rated load of Fx and Fy are 500Nm and Fz sensor is 1000N, and those of Mx and My are 18Nm, Mz sensor is 8Nm) for perceiving forces and moments in a humanoid robot's foot was developed using many PPBs (parallel plate-beams). The structure of the sensor was newly modeled, and the sensing elements (plate-beams) of the sensor were designed using by ANSYS software (FEM (Finite Element Method) program). Then, a 6-axis force/moment sensor was fabricated by attaching strain-gages on the sensing elements, and the characteristic test of the developed sensor was carried out. The rated outputs from FEM analysis agree well with that from the characteristic test.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.85-95
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral habits on the muscles of mastication and facial expression by means of two parameters: muscle stiffness and elasticity. 10 healthy, fully-dentate male subjects in their twenties were selected for this study; all had normal Class I occlusal relationships. Muscle stiffness and elasticity were measured with a tactile sensor(Venustron, Axiom Co., JAPAN) while subjects were asked to relax and perform various parafunctional activities such unilateral clenching(biting the bite force recorder with a force of 50kg on each subject's preferred side), jaw thrusting and lip bracing. The following muscles were examined: temporalis anterior(Ta), masseter(Mm), frontalis(Fr), inferior orbicularis oculi(OOci), zygomaticus major(Zm), superior and inferior orbularis oris(OOrs and OOri) and mentalis(Mn). Paired t-test, Correlation Coefficients, ANOVA and Multiple Comparison t-tests were used for statistical analysis. Unilateral clenching was highly correlated with bilateral stiffness and elasticity of all the muscles tested. Mm was affected by all three oral habits; Ta was affected by unilateral clenching(p<0.05); Zm was affected by unilateral clenching and OOrs, OOri and Mn were most affected by lip bracing(p<0.05). This study indicates that not only the masticatory muscles but also the muscles of facial expression, mainly circumoral muscles, can be significantly influenced by parafunctional activities such as unilateral clenching and lip bracing.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.10
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• pp.1069-1074
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• 2014

In this study, the piezoelectric characteristics of a piezoelectric paint sensor were investigated in relation to the poling time. This piezoelectric paint sensor was composed of PNN-PZT powder and epoxy resin with a 1:1 weight ratio. The dimensions of the paint specimen were $40{\times}10{\times}1mm^3$, and the top and bottom sides were both coated with a silver paste to create electrodes. During the poling treatment, the poling time was controlled to examine the effect of the piezoelectric properties, while the poling temperature was fixed at room temperature and the electric field was set to 4 kV/mm. The piezoelectric properties were measured by comparing the output voltage from the paint sensor to the force signal from an impact hammer when the impact hammer hit the specimen. In conclusion, the optimal poling conditions were found to be an electric field of 4 kV/mm and a poling time of around 30 min at room temperature.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.533-539
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• 2013

Recently, Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) systems receive great attention in the fields of the medical and biomedical Engineering because of several merits in terms of new actuators and sensors and fuel cell materials. When the voltage is excited to IPMC system, it moves. Conversely, if there are any movement on the IPMC, the IPMC has charge voltage by the internal properties. Therefore the IPMC can be used as a motion sensor or force sensor. In this paper, we identify characteristics of the IPMC and control its movements from remote locations by the smart-phone system based on visual information for monitoring. Additionally, control of movements of the IPMC is realized by transmit motion commands using the smart-phone system with the blue-tooth communication. Unfortunately, there are some deficiencies to perfectly attain physical properties of the IPMC systems from our experiments in this paper. However, in its utilization point of view, we demonstrate that the IPMC has some potentials as new sensors, actuators, and fuel cells.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.114-121
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• 2017

This paper describes the design and fabrication of a three-axis force sensor with parallel plate beams (PPSs) for measuring the calf force while a patient with a walking assist robot is walking. Current walking assist robots can't measure the weight of the patient's leg and the robot's leg which required for robot control. So, the three-axis force sensor in the calf link is designed and manufactured, it is composed of a Fx force sensor, a Fy force sensor and a Fz force sensor. The three-axis force sensor was designed using by FEM(Finite Element Method), and fabricated using strain-gages. The characteristics experiment of the three-axis force sensor was carried out respectively. The test results indicated that the repeatability error and the non-linearity error of three-axis force sensor was less than 0.04% respectively. Therefore, the fabricated three-axis force sensor in the calf link can be used to measure the patient's calf force in the walking assist robot.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.351-356
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• 2011

Stroke patients should exercise for the rehabilitation of their fingers, because they can't use their hand and fingers. Their hand and fingers are fixed on the hand fixing system for rehabilitation exercise of them. But the hands clenched the fist of stroke patients are difficult to fix on it. In order to fix the hands and fingers, their palms are pressed with pressing bars and are controlled by reference force. The fixing system must have a five-axis force/moment sensor to force control. In this paper, the five-axis force/moment sensor was developed for the hand fixing system of finger-rehabilitation exercising system. The structure of the five-axis force/moment sensor was modeled, and designed using finite element method(FEM). And it was fabricated with strain-gages, then, its characteristic test was carried out. As a result, the maximum interference error is less than 2.43 %.