I have put together a few projects with the arduino (ethernet controlled motion of two stepper motors, etc), but would love a little kick in the right direction.
I need to create a device that is capable of functioning a lot like a screwdriver but i need to have some feedback so that I know the tool is not spinning freely but is engaging with the slot on the screw. Any suggestions for hardware to be able to read torque on a shaft?
Probably the best way would be to monitor the current of the motor via a shunt resistor (converting it to a voltage read by an analog input); when the current goes up, that means the motor is slowing down, drawing more current (and hopefully engaged with the "screw"). Of course, as the piece is loosened, the torque will drop, the current will go down - and I don't know how you reconcile that with "not engaged"!
