Design and analysis of a novel six-component F/T sensor based on CPM for passive compliant assembly

Abstract

This paper presents the design and analysis of a six-component Force/Torque (F/T) sensor whose design is based on the mechanism of the Compliant Parallel Mechanism (CPM). The force sensor is used to measure forces along the x-, y-, and z-axis (Fx, Fy and Fz) and moments about the x-, y-, and z-axis (Mx, My and Mz) simultaneously and to provide passive compliance during parts handling and assembly. Particularly, the structural design, the details of the measuring principle and the kinematics are presented. Afterwards, based on the Design of Experiments (DOE) approach provided by the software ANSYS®, a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is performed. This analysis is performed with the objective of achieving both high sensitivity and isotropy of the sensor. The results of FEA show that the proposed sensor possesses high performance and robustness.