| Sensor Products Inc., USA, has recently introduced the ASET� sensor for measuring interfacial stresses in real time. ASET� is a thin profile magnetic resistive ink sensor element that reveals the surface area of contact and displacement of contact area levels. The operating principle of the ASET is the ability to treat the entire sensing element as a linear potentiometer. Thus, the typical linear format design of the sensor enables the entire surface contact area to be determined as well as sensing position along the line. Unlike resistive ink sensors and piezo sensors, the ASET does not require complicated and time-consuming calibration. The sensor has also been designed to withstand repeated applications of contact and impact under a wide range of environmental conditions.
Potential applications for this sensor system are checking roll pressure in real time, and in others where it would be embedded into smart structures or objects. It can serve any application requiring a ball or ball joint, where the relative position and force being applied needs to be quantified. In addition, the sensor can be used where either a solid or semi-solid object is moving in three-dimensional space and a need exists to monitor precisely where and when a component of the object is striking, mating, or changing dimension due to compression or impact with another solid surface. Furthermore, a robotics application exists where object grip and surface area of contact and other important considerations need monitoring. Conceptually similar to a linear potentiometer, the sensor reveals both interpolated force and position of an object (or object dimensions) and can sense the position and interpolated force, by virtue of surface area of contact on a deformable mass, of a single- or multiple-contact actuator. The ASET sensor system relies not on a reading of electrical resistance to determine the shunting level (percentage of circuit surface area that is shorted), but rather a ratio of the starting resistance to the final resistance.
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