A load transducer is disclosed herein. The load transducer includes a body portion having a plurality of sides, the plurality of sides of the body portion including a first side; a plurality of beam portions including a first beam portion and a second beam portion, the first beam portion being coupled to the body portion, the second beam portion being coupled to the first beam portion, and the second beam portion extending along the first side of the body portion; and at least one load cell disposed on one or more of the plurality of beam portions, the at least one load cell configured to measure at least one force or moment component of a load applied to the load transducer. A force measurement assembly including a plurality of load transducers with first and second beam portions is also disclosed herein.

An adhesively coupled power-meter measures one or more of force, torque, power, and velocity of a mechanical arm. The power meter includes a plate with a first surface prepared for adhesively coupling to the mechanical arm. At least one strain gauge is physically coupled with a second surface, opposite the first, of the plate and with an orientation corresponding to an orientation of the adhesively coupled power meter such that mechanical forces are transferred from mechanical arm to the at least one strain gauge when the plate is adhesively coupled to the mechanical arm. The power meter also includes electronics for receiving a signal from the at least one strain gauge and for determining one or more of force, torque, power and velocity from the signal, and a wireless transmitter for transmitting one or more of force, torque, power and velocity to a receiving device.

A MEMS force sensor including a first substrate, a second substrate and a plurality of conductive terminals is provided. The second substrate is disposed opposite to the first substrate and includes a deformable portion and a force receiving portion. The deformable portion has a plurality of sensing elements. The force receiving portion protrudes from a surface of the deformable portion which is back facing to the first substrate, such that a cavity is formed above the deformable portion. The conductive terminals are electrically connected to the sensing elements, and the conductive terminals are centrally disposed under the cavity. The second substrate is fixed with the first substrate through the conductive terminals. A force sensing apparatus is also provided.

Tactile sensing using both coarse and fine tactile sensors. A coarse tactile sensor having a first sensitive area at least partially encompasses or overlies a plurality of fine tactile sensors, each having a respective sensitive area smaller than the first sensitive area. The coarse tactile sensor(s) and fine tactile sensors may be carried on a same circuit board or separate circuit boards. Processor(s) circuits are communicatively coupled to the coarse and/or fine tactile sensors. Information indicative of at least a presence or absence of force or pressure at a given location monitored by the respective tactile sensor, and/or a measure of the force or pressure or strain is collected. Such may be mounted to a backing, and optionally covered or encased in an artificial skin. Collecting sensor readings employs both coarse and fine tactile sensors, sampling corresponding fine tactile sensors in response to detection by a coarse tactile sensor.

A stress sensor includes: a substrate, having a face and a recess, open to the face; and a sensor chip of semiconductor material, housed in the recess and bonded to the substrate, the sensor chip being provided with a plurality of sensing components of piezoresistive material. The substrate has a thickness which is less by at least one order of magnitude with respect to a main dimension of the face. Further, the sensor chip has a thickness which is less by at least one order of magnitude with respect to the thickness of the substrate, and a Young's module of the substrate and a Young's module of the sensor chip are of the same order of magnitude.

A stress sensor includes: a substrate, having a face and a recess, open to the face; and a sensor chip of semiconductor material, housed in the recess and bonded to the substrate, the sensor chip being provided with a plurality of sensing components of piezoresistive material. The substrate has a thickness which is less by at least one order of magnitude with respect to a main dimension of the face. Further, the sensor chip has a thickness which is less by at least one order of magnitude with respect to the thickness of the substrate, and a Young's module of the substrate and a Young's module of the sensor chip are of the same order of magnitude.

In an embodiment a tactile sensor includes a plurality of stress sensors and at least one contact body, wherein the stress sensors are configured to detect a load pattern applied on a detection surface of the contact body.

In an embodiment a tactile sensor includes a plurality of stress sensors and at least one contact body, wherein the stress sensors are configured to detect a load pattern applied on a detection surface of the contact body.

A force sensing system for determining if a user input has occurred, the system comprising: an input channel, to receive an input from at least one force sensor; an activity detection stage, to monitor an activity level of the input from the at least one force sensor and, responsive to an activity level which may be indicative of a user input being reached, to generate an indication that an activity has occurred at the force sensor; and an event detection stage to receive said indication, and to determine if a user input has occurred based on the received input from the at least one force sensor.

A tactile sensor includes a base portion, a displacement portion, a displacement portion support body that supports the displacement portion in a displaceable manner in a first direction with respect to the base portion, a hair in a straight line arranged along a second direction, a hair fixing portion to which a base end of the hair is fixed, a hair fixing portion support body that turnably supports the hair fixing portion with respect to the displacement portion, a displacement detector that detects a displacement of the displacement portion with respect to the base portion, and a turn detector that detects a turn of the hair fixing portion with respect to the displacement portion. The sensations specific to the hairy skin, such as perception of a liquid surface and static electricity, can be detected from a shearing force and a moment acting on the hair.