Design of the Force Measurement Device Using Piezoelectric Sensor

Abstract

This study was aimed to design the modest force measurement device using a piezoelectric sensor. The design process referred to Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) 2206 methodology, which has a specialty on the mechatronics field. The design process conducted in three fields, namely mechanical, electronic, and information technology field. Each field has requirement connectivity to produce the desired device. In the mechanical field, the coupled field analysis and structural analysis were conducted to analyze the characteristics and performances of the piezoelectric sensor. In the electric field, the signal conditioner was designed to make the signal from the piezoelectric sensor suitable for the data acquisition system of the measuring device. Moreover, the results of simulation in the mechanical field were also taken into considerations for implementing the signal conditioner circuit. In the information technology field, the data acquisition program was employed to collect the data from the device. Finally, the verification process by the empirical method was conducted to verify that every function of the invention is working as well as the given requirement. The experimental results were also compared to the voltage data obtained from the calculation and simulation processes. According to the comparisons, the average percentage of the difference between the calculation and verification results is 9.7%, and that between the simulation and verification results is 9%. It clearly shows that the simulation results are in good agreement with the results of calculation. Finally, the specification of the force measurement device obtained from this study is as follows. The maximum load capacity of the piezoelectric force sensor is 1400 N, the output voltage through the circuit ranges from 0 to 4 V, and the force level that can be read by this device is 100 N.