Systems, methods, and apparatus related to a homing mechanism within a drive mechanism of a lacing engine for an automated footwear platform are described. In an example, the homing apparatus can include an indexing wheel, a plurality of Geneva teeth and a stop tooth. The plurality of Geneva teeth can be distributed around a portion of a perimeter of the indexing wheel. Each Geneva tooth of the plurality of Geneva teeth can include side profiles conforming to a first side profile that generates a first force when engaged by an index tooth on a portion of the drive mechanism. The stop tooth can be located along the perimeter of the indexing wheel between two Geneva teeth. Additionally, the stop tooth can include side profiles conforming to a second side profile that generates a second force when engaged by the index tooth.

Systems and methods according to present principles provide for three axis force sensing in a convenient and manufacturable way. In one implementation, a vibrating motor is attached at the fixed end of an anisotropic structure, such as a rod, which then vibrates in a circular motion. A monitor such as a 3-axis accelerometer is also attached to the anisotropic structure. The resulting motion is then mapped electronically for analysis. With no force applied, a circular motion is achieved. When a net force is applied to the free, vibrating end of the rod, the circular pattern which is traced out becomes distorted, e.g., progressively flattened into an ellipse, in a repeatable way which is directly proportional to the applied force. The axis of the applied force can be ascertained according to the direction in which the ellipse forms. Systems and methods according to present principles may be used in any application in which force sensing is needed, e.g., robotics, including robotic surgery.

The present invention is a system and method using a hand-mounted force sensor to verify installation of a CPA-enabled electrical connector. The system has at least one CPA-enabled electrical connector with a locking button; at least one hand-mounted force sensor; an interface board; a transmission channel; a system processor; a non-transitory computer readable memory element; a display; and an input. The hand-mounted force sensors have an electrical output that is proportional to the force. By interposing a force sensor between the locking button and the source of force, the force to close the locking tab can be read. The method is accomplished with the steps of mounting at least one force sensor so that it will record the force exerted when depressing a locking button of a CPA-enabled electrical connector; depressing the locking button; measuring the force; recording the force; comparing the force to a pre-determined threshold; passing the CPA-enabled electrical connector if the force was less than the pre-determined threshold and otherwise failing it.

A method configured to produce a pressure-sensitive sensor composed of a cylindrical-shape body including therein a hollow portion along a longitudinal direction of that sensor, and being made of an elastic electrical insulating member, and a plurality of electrode wires arranged helically along an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical-shape body and arranged in such a manner as to have no contact with each other. The method includes, with an extruder with a head, extrusion-molding the cylindrical-shape body while running the plurality of electrode wires into that head in such a manner that a periphery of the plurality of electrode wires is coated with the cylindrical-shape body, and taking up the cylindrical-shape body and the plurality of electrode wires ejected from the extruder while rotating the cylindrical-shape body and the plurality of electrode wires in a circumferential direction of the sensor, to thereby helically arrange the plurality of electrode wires.

An instrumented electric power voltage arrester includes a temperature sensor, wireless transmitter, and a visual over-temperature indicator. A disk shaped module, a replacement varister block, or a dummy block containing the sensor/transmitter is placed between varister blocks inside the arrester housing. A strap-on module is attached to the outside of the arrester housing. The sensor/transmitter utilizes a harvesting power supply that draws electric power for the electronics from the power line protected by the arrester. An ambient temperature sensor may be utilized to enhance accuracy. The temperature sensor/transmitter typically sends arrester monitoring data wirelessly to an RTU or handheld unit located outside the arrester, which relays the monitoring data to an operations control center that scheduled replacement of the arrester based on the monitoring data. A surge counter keeps track of the number of equipment and lightning related temperature surges experienced by the arrester.

A transducer assembly includes a mounting base, a collar, a magnet, and a Hall effect sensor. The collar defines a bore and extends from a proximal end to a distal end. The proximal end is fixedly coupled with the mounting base. One of the magnet and the Hall effect sensor is disposed within the bore and fixedly coupled to the mounting base. The other of the magnet and the Hall effect sensor is fixedly coupled to the distal end of the collar. The Hall effect sensor is spaced longitudinally from the magnet and is configured to detect lateral deflection of the distal end of the collar. Methods are also provided.

A force gauge includes a housing, comprising a first and a second plate elements. The gauge further comprises a foil-based sensor element to output an electric signal in response to a force exerted on the sensor element in a thickness direction (T) or in a direction of force application (F), at least one spring element arranged to provide a counter force in T or F and having a defined spring characteristic, and at least one abut element to limit a maximum compression of the sensor element in T or F. The sensor element, the spring element and the abut element are sandwiched between inner sides of the first and the second plate elements and, together, at least partly define a signal characteristic of the force gauge within an operational range with a lower limit (L2) and an upper limit (L1).

Described herein are input structures that include an input surface and one or more sensor modules attached to the input surface. Each sensor module includes one or more sensors operably attached to a substrate. The one or more sensors are operable to detect strain on the substrate. One or more portions of the substrate are removed to produce a stress concentration region in proximity to at least one sensor. The stress concentration region concentrates strain in proximity to the at least one sensor.

The disclosure relates to a load cell for a linear actuator. The load cell configured to measure a force exerted thereon by a rotary motor, and includes a spring element, a hollow portion and at least one strain gauge. The spring element includes a first side and a second side. The first side and the second side are opposite to each other. The hollow portion passes through the spring element. The at least one strain gauge is secured on the spring element and located between the first side and the second side, wherein when the force is exerted on the spring element when the rotary motor is driven to move along the first direction, the second side is moved relative to the first side, the spring element is deformed, and the at least one strain gauge changes shape, so that the force is measured and standardized under a specific range.

A method for determining a hand force and a ground reaction force for a musculoskeletal body of a subject includes obtaining video data for the musculoskeletal body during an action taken by the subject, generating, for each frame of the video data, three-dimensional pose data for the subject based on a three-dimensional skeletal model, and determining the hand force and the ground reaction force based on the three-dimensional pose data. Determining the hand force and the ground reaction force includes implementing a reconstruction of the hand force and the ground reaction force based on the three-dimensional pose data. The method additionally includes applying the three-dimensional pose data, the estimate for the ground reaction force, and the estimate of the hand force, to a neural network or other model to optimize the estimate of the hand force and the estimate of the ground reaction force.