HIGH PERFORMANCE MULTIAXIS STRAIN SENSING

INTERNAL SENSING AND CONTROL OF ADAPTIVE MECHANICAL STRUCTURES SUCH AS ROBOTS, TELEOPERATORS, SPACE STATIONS, AND SPACE FRAMES REQUIRES STRAIN MEASUREMENT AT NODES WITHIN THE STRUCTURE. THESE MEASUREMENTS HAVE TRADITIONALLYBEEN ACCOMPLISHED USING UNIAXIAL STRAIN TRANSDUCERS (SUCH AS STRAIN GAGES) WHICH REQUIRE CAREFUL COMPENSATION WHEN MULTIPLE STRAINS ARE PRESENT. WHEN SEVERAL STRAINS MUST BE MEASURED AT A SINGLE POINT, ELABORATE STRUCTURES AND BALANCING SCHEMES MUST BE DEVISED IN ORDER TO ACCURATELY DETERMINE THEIR MAGNITUDES. AS A RESULT, TRANSDUCER SIZE, COST, AND RELIABILITY POSE INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING PROBLEMSAS STRUCTURES BECOME MORE COMPLEX. THIS PROJECT PROPOSES AN EFFORT THAT WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MINIATURE, RELIABLE, LOW COST SIX-AXIS LOAD CELLS FOR MEASURING STRAINS AT STRUCTURAL NODES. BASED ON THE ANALYSIS OF AN EXISTING PROTOTYPE, THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS TWO SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE DEVICE: RELIABILITY AND PACKAGING. THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH; (1) A FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF THE DEVICE STRUCTURE AND ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCE, (2) A RELIABILITY AND PERFORMANCE STUDY OF THE ELECTRONICS, AND (3) A REVIEW OF PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS FOR RELIABLE, LOW COST IMPLEMENTATION. AT THE CONCLUSION OF PHASE I, SARCOS RESEARCH CORPORATION WILL DELIVER A RECOMMENDATION TO NASA DEFINING DIRECTIONS FOR WORK IN LATER PHASES.