This work focuses on the design, development, and testing of an inexpensive, low-profile, cartwheel flexure mechanism for torque measurement. It has been designed primarily for use in a rehabilitation and diagnostics instrument for the treatment of ankle injuries. The sensor is manufactured rapidly and at low-cost using an Omax™ abrasive waterjet machine. Strain gauges are bonded to the flexure beams to measure applied strain using a full wheatstone bridge circuit. Displacement, force, and torque are then calculated from the measured circuit voltage; power and velocity can also be determined if required by the application. Experimental results show that there exists a linear relationship between applied torque and output voltage of the wheatstone bridge for the nested cartwheel flexure design. Furthermore, results of preliminary tests of an ankle rehabilitation device show that it fulfills a need not currently satisfied by current rehabilitation and diagnostic technology in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
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March 2013
Technical Briefs
Torque Measurement With Compliant Mechanisms
Edward Sung,
Edward Sung
Precision Compliant Systems Laboratory
,Department of Mechanical Engineering
,Massachusetts Institute of Technology
,Cambridge, MA 02139
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Jonathan F. Bean,
Jonathan F. Bean
Harvard Medical School
,Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
,Spaulding Cambridge Outpatient Center
,Cambridge, MA 02138
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Martin L. Culpepper
Martin L. Culpepper
Precision Compliant Systems Laboratory
,Department of Mechanical Engineering
,Massachusetts Institute of Technology
,Cambridge, MA 02139
Search for other works by this author on:
Edward Sung
Precision Compliant Systems Laboratory
,Department of Mechanical Engineering
,Massachusetts Institute of Technology
,Cambridge, MA 02139
Jonathan F. Bean
Harvard Medical School
,Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
,Spaulding Cambridge Outpatient Center
,Cambridge, MA 02138
Martin L. Culpepper
Precision Compliant Systems Laboratory
,Department of Mechanical Engineering
,Massachusetts Institute of Technology
,Cambridge, MA 02139
Contributed by the Mechanisms and Robotics Committee of ASME for publication in the Journal of Mechanical Design. Manuscript received July 19, 2011; final manuscript received March 13, 2012; published online January 17, 2013. Assoc. Editor: Mary Frecker.
J. Mech. Des. Mar 2013, 135(3): 034502 (5 pages)
Published Online: January 17, 2013
Article history
Received:
July 19, 2011
Revision Received:
March 13, 2012
Citation
Ma, R., Slocum, A. H., Jr., Sung, E., Bean, J. F., and Culpepper, M. L. (January 17, 2013). "Torque Measurement With Compliant Mechanisms." ASME. J. Mech. Des. March 2013; 135(3): 034502. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4023326
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