Minebea Develops 6-Axis Force Sensor with Optical Sensing Technology

Minebea Co., Ltd. ("Minebea") has developed a six-axis force sensor with its proprietary optical sensing technology¡ªthat allows high cost performance to be achieved. This new product¡ªa sensor utilizing a patent for non-linear calibration algorithm patent jointly owned by Professor Shigeo Hirose and Assistant Professor Kan Yoneda of Tokyo Institute of Technology¡ª offers a compact, light weight design incorporating Minebea's proprietary optical technology into the sensing. In addition, the new product is an innovative, epoch-making six-axis force sensor by utilizing Minebea's circuit technology cultivated through the development and manufacturing of measuring components for many years, is structured to incorporate a high-speed arithmetic circuit into the sensor, without relying on an external amplification circuit. Six-axis force sensors are a sensor that can detect force and couple in the direction of three axes, and are used in various applications such as industrial robots. Robots for industrial machinery, nursing and medical equipment etc., will be increasingly essential to human society. As demand will be increasing, they will be required to be smaller, lighter and lower in price. Minebea has developed a six-axis force sensor using its proprietary optical sensing technology, as a product aimed at meeting these market needs in the future. Minebea is ready to supply samples of the product, and in fact, has begun product introduction and sample delivery activity¡ªtargeted at robot-related companies, university research laboratories, and nursing-care and welfare service providers. The Company also plans to begin sales activity in February 2005. The new product features: 1. Compact design and competitive priced¡ªa result of utilizing Minebea's proprietary optical sensing technology, 2. Interference correction and digital filter with a high-speed DSP used in the sensor (Note 1), 4. its ability to install up to four sensors, without using an external electric power supply. (Specifications) Capacity 220 N¡¢100 N¡¢50 N Safe overload 150 %R.O.¡¡¡¡¡¡£¨Note 3£© Ultimate overload 200 %R.O. Accuracy 5 %£¨Incl. non linearity, hysteresis, repeatability and mutual interference£© Safe temperature range Temperature effect on zero balance Temperature effect on output Dimension* Cable Standard: 5 m Notes DSP is an abbreviation for a "digital signal processor," which refers to a microprocessor designed specifically for processing digital signals at a high speed. Interference correction refers to the function of correcting the ratio of zero-point changes in the other axes to the rated value when applying a load to one axis. PCI is a standard for bus transmitting data from one part of a computer to another. R.O. is short for "rated output," which refers to a measurement value (as may be called a "span") in which no-load output has been subtracted from rated load output.