Grasping finger position sensor for a robot system
First Claim
1. In a robot system having at least one finger element which is movable in opposition to at least one cooperating finger element to grasp an object to be manipulated, a drive mechanism coupled to said movable finger element, a position sensing means for sensing the position of said movable finger element in relation to said cooperating finger element, said position sensing means comprising a variable reactance device including two cooperating reactance elements, at least one of said reactance elements being movable with respect to the other one of said reactance elements and being mechanicaly coupled to said movable finger element for movement therewith, the other one of said reactance elements being mechanically coupled to said cooperating finger element, the relative movement between said reactance elements being effective to vary the reactance of said variable reactance device, an oscillator circuit connected with said variable reactance device, the frequency of said oscillator circuit being variable in response to the variation in the reactance of said variable reactance device to thereby provide a frequency output signal which represents a measure of the position of said movable finger element with respect to said cooperating finger element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The position sensor senses the position of a movable finger in relation to a cooperating finger. The position sensor includes a variable reactance device including two cooperating relatively movable reactance elements. One of the reactance elements is mechanically coupled to the movable finger and the other one of the reactance elements is mechanically coupled to a cooperating finger. The relative movement between the reactance elements is effective to vary the reactance of the variable reactance device. An oscillator circuit is connected with the variable reactance device so that the frequency of the oscillator circuit varies to provide a variable frequency output which represents the position of the movable finger with respect to the cooperating finger.
29 Citations
7 Claims
- 1. In a robot system having at least one finger element which is movable in opposition to at least one cooperating finger element to grasp an object to be manipulated, a drive mechanism coupled to said movable finger element, a position sensing means for sensing the position of said movable finger element in relation to said cooperating finger element, said position sensing means comprising a variable reactance device including two cooperating reactance elements, at least one of said reactance elements being movable with respect to the other one of said reactance elements and being mechanicaly coupled to said movable finger element for movement therewith, the other one of said reactance elements being mechanically coupled to said cooperating finger element, the relative movement between said reactance elements being effective to vary the reactance of said variable reactance device, an oscillator circuit connected with said variable reactance device, the frequency of said oscillator circuit being variable in response to the variation in the reactance of said variable reactance device to thereby provide a frequency output signal which represents a measure of the position of said movable finger element with respect to said cooperating finger element.
Specification