Development of a novel three-axis force sensor

A novel three-axis force sensor is presented in this paper. It uses strain gauge as sensing element for the detection of force. The elastic body is a thin cylinder on which four holes are opened evenly in two levels. There are three Wheatstone bridges on the beams to detect the force in three directions. The mathematic model of the sensor is analyzed, and strength check, stiffness design and the linearity of the sensor were studied with FEA. Finally, the Transmission Matrix is calculated. As indicated by the calculations and experiments, this sensor is not only of high sensitivity and adequate rigidity in the three directions, but also of fairly small cross sensitivities.