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[on:]

Hi all,

I need to create a robot for a school project that would needs to actuate rollers through stepper motors and to record a resisting force of 15N with 0.015N sensitivity. If possible to achieve that kind of sensitivity (0.1%)with Arduino? also, I am also unsure of what kind of force transducer I would be able to use ( torque/piezo/strain gage). If anyone could redirect me to useful resources that would be very helpful Im new to all of this!
Thanks

[Reply #1 on:]

The Arduino should be able to cope with this. Your real problem will be to find the right sensor(s).

Mark

[Reply #2 on:]

You can almost do it with this:

http://www.vernier.com/products/sensors/force-sensors/dfs-bta/

Too bad you need 15N and it only does 10N.

[Reply #3 on:]

You can almost do it with this:

http://www.vernier.com/products/sensors/force-sensors/dfs-bta/

Too bad you need 15N and it only does 10N.

They do a dual range one (10N and 50N).

[Reply #4 on:]

Check these out:
http://www.imagesco.com/sensors/force-sensors.html

I was a little curious about force sensors myself today. These guys have different sizes up to 100lbs (44 newtons?) and they are apparently read as a resistor with a range between 5M and 5k. Soooo, divide the max rating by the difference in impedance, and you get a resolution of around 0.0000088 newtons per ohm. But since the Arduino has a 10-12 bit adc, the resolution does get brought down. If the change is 4995000 ohms, then it would take a change of 4877 ohms to register on an Uno. So you'd be looking at 0.0429 newtons per byte, which is kinda close... but the smaller ones may get better resolution, and a chip with a 12 bit adc can get you up to 0.0107. Just a couple ideas! Good Luck!

[Reply #5 on:]

You can almost do it with this:

http://www.vernier.com/products/sensors/force-sensors/dfs-bta/

Too bad you need 15N and it only does 10N.

They do a dual range one (10N and 50N).

50N range has accuracy of 0.05N (not accurate enough for OP), although 10N range has accuracy of 0.01N (accurate enough for OP).