DESIGN NOTE: Proposal for an impulse response evaluation method for force transducers

A method for evaluating the dynamic characteristics of force transducers in impact detection is proposed. In this method a mass is made to collide with a force transducer and the impulse, i.e. the time integration of the impact force, is measured highly accurately as a change in momentum of the mass. To realize linear motion with a sufficiently low friction acting on the mass, the pneumatic linear bearing `Air-Slide' is used, and the velocity of the mass, the moving part of the bearing, is measured using an optical interferometer. This method will be effective for evaluating the dynamic characteristics and the uncertainties of force transducers in impact detection, and evaluating the uncertainty in applying the results of other conventional dynamic calibration methods to impact detection. The relative combined standard uncertainty in the measurement of the impulse acting on a force transducer by this method is estimated to be less than .