Force sensing apparatus and robot arm including the same
First Claim
1. A force sensing apparatus, comprising:
- a body that is elastically deformable and has a pipe form extending along an axial direction of the body;
at least three fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) attached to a surface of the body;
an opening in the body between each two adjacent FBGs so that a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the body intersects the opening and the two adjacent FBGs;
a light source configured to provide light to each of the FBGs; and
a light detector configured to detect light reflected by each of the FBGs or light that has passed through each of the FBGs.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-axis force sensing apparatus that is installed at an operational end of a surgery robot and is capable of measuring force acting upon the operational end and a robot arm including the force sensing apparatus includes a body that is elastically deformable and has a pipe form extending along an axial direction of the body, an optical fiber strain gauge attached to a surface of the body to measure a tension and compression of the body in at least three directions. The optical fiber strain gauge may include at least three fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) that are attached to the surface of the body and extended in an axial direction of the body, a light source providing light to each of the FBGs, and a light detector detecting light reflected by the FBGs or light that has passed through the FBGs.
12 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A force sensing apparatus, comprising:
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a body that is elastically deformable and has a pipe form extending along an axial direction of the body; at least three fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) attached to a surface of the body; an opening in the body between each two adjacent FBGs so that a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the body intersects the opening and the two adjacent FBGs; a light source configured to provide light to each of the FBGs; and a light detector configured to detect light reflected by each of the FBGs or light that has passed through each of the FBGs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A force sensing apparatus comprising:
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a body that is elastically deformable and has a pipe form extending along an axial direction of the body; at least three fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) attached to a surface of the body; a light source configured to provide light to each of the FBGs; and a light detector configured to detect light reflected by each of the FBGs or light that has passed through each of the FBGs; wherein the body comprises; an upper portion and a lower portion separated from each other; at least three elastic beams that connect the upper portion and the lower portion of the body and are extended in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the body; gaps between one of the elastic beams and the upper portion of the body and between one of the elastic beams and the lower portion of the body; and a stopper between each two adjacent elastic beams so that a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the body intersects the stopper and one of the at least three FBGs between the two adjacent elastic beams. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A robot arm, comprising:
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a body that is elastically deformable and has a pipe form extending along an axial direction of the body; at least three fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) attached to a surface of the body; an opening in the body between each two adjacent FBGs so that a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the body intersects the opening and the two adjacent FBGs; a light source configured to provide light to each of the FBGs; and a light detector configured to detect light reflected by each of the FBGs or light that has passed through each of the FBGs. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A method to sense a force applied to an elastically deformable body, the method comprising:
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attaching at least three optical fiber strain gauges to the body; forming an opening in the body between two adjacent optical fiber strain gauges of the at least three optical fiber strain gauges so that a plane perpendicular to an axial direction of the elastically deformable body intersects the opening and the two adjacent optical fiber strain gauges; providing light to each of the at least three optical fiber strain gauges; detecting the light from each of the at least three optical fiber strain gauges; and calculating the force applied to the body based on the detected light.
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Specification