Force sensing model by internal pressure measurement of pneumatic bag

Abstract

Inflatable robotic arms with light weight and softness have been proposed to expand the application fields of robots. In this paper, we develop a force sensor made of a plastic sheet air-bag. Due to the structure and material, this force sensor has lightweight and flexible features. Therefore, this sensor is suitable for inflatable robotic arms. A force sensing model is proposed in this paper to estimate external force from internal pressure of the air-bag. The model is derived by measuring the contact area between the air-bag and the contact plane. Furthermore, we experimentally confirm the usefulness of the proposed sensing model.