On Force Sensing Information and Its Use in Controlling Manipulators

Abstract This paper treats the problem of force sensing as associated with mechanical manipulators under computer control. First it reviews the various methods of force sensing currently in use. Then it reviews the design requirements for a force sensing system. A novel method for the automatic calibration of a force sensing system is presented. This method has several advantages over present methods. It has been implemented on the Stanford Arm system; test results are presented which verify the expected efficiencies of this method.