A Portable Stiffness Measurement System
<p>Schematic illustration of the stiffness measurement system. (<b>a</b>) Cross-sectional schematic diagram of the initial state of the stiffness measurement system. Comparison between measurements of (<b>b</b>) soft and (<b>c</b>) hard objects.</p> "> Figure 2
<p>Cross-section diagram of the system during pressurizing stiffness measurement.</p> "> Figure 3
<p>Design and assembly of the stiffness measurement system. (<b>a</b>) Cross-sectional schematic of the f-module, and (<b>b</b>) a picture of fabricated f-module parts. Inset shows a picture of the force sensor. (<b>c</b>) Cross-sectional schematic of the t-module, and (<b>d</b>) a picture of an assembled t-module. The scale bars in (<b>a</b>,<b>c</b>) represents 1 cm.</p> "> Figure 4
<p>F-module sensor calibration. (<b>a</b>) Weight dependent output of the calibration tool. Its transposed curve was fit to a polynomial equation. (See <a href="#app1-sensors-17-02686" class="html-app">Supplementary Materials</a>.) Inset shows a picture of the measurement process. (<b>b</b>) Calibration of the f-module output voltage. The curve was fit to a polynomial equation in the <a href="#app1-sensors-17-02686" class="html-app">Supplementary Materials</a>. The bias of the f-module response came from the pre-load of the spring in the f-module. Inset shows a picture showing the application of force to the f-module by the calibration tool using the pyramidal tip in (<b>a</b>).</p> "> Figure 5
<p>T-module sensor calibration. (<b>a</b>) Image of the t-module calibration tool. (<b>b</b>) Response curve from the calibration tool.</p> "> Figure 6
<p>Assembly of the portable stiffness measurement system. (<b>a</b>) 3-dimensional schematic illustration of the assembled s-module. (<b>b</b>) A picture of the assembled s-module, and (<b>c</b>) the same module with interchanged t-module placements. (<b>d</b>) A circuit diagram of the stiffness measurement system. (<b>e</b>) A picture of the completed system. The scale bar represents 5 cm.</p> "> Figure 7
<p>Demonstration of stiffness measurement. (<b>a</b>) Various objects for stiffness measurements. Top row: optical images taken at 100 times magnitude. The scale bar represents 200 μm. Insets: pictures of the objects. The dimension of sponge, black foam, and blue foam were 9 cm (length) × 5 cm (width) × 2.5 cm (thickness), 12 cm × 10 cm × 2 cm, and 8 cm × 3 cm × 3 cm, respectively. Bottom row: scanning electron microscope images of the same materials in the top row taken at 200 times magnitude. The scale bar represents 100 μm. (<b>b</b>) A picture showing a measurement being taken on the forearm skin. Inset shows the moment when the t-modules were activated.</p> "> Figure 8
<p>T-module separation dependent stiffness measurement. Illustration of the variation of the indentation profile and IE in case of a softer object (<b>a</b>), and (<b>b</b>) in case of a harder object. (<b>c</b>) Distribution of the IE position depending on applied force. (<b>d</b>) t-module position dependent measured forces showing sensing range selection based on t-module separation. Stiffness measurement obtained when the separation was (<b>e</b>) 6 mm, and (<b>f</b>) 20 mm. For both cases, <span class="html-italic">k</span><sub>1</sub> was 2.7 N/mm, and <span class="html-italic">x<sub>i</sub></span> was 6 mm.</p> "> Figure 9
<p>Piston protrusion dependent stiffness measurement. Illustration of the variation of IE of a soft object for (<b>a</b>) a tall protrusion and (<b>b</b>) a short protrusion. (<b>c</b>) Distribution of the IE position depending on applied force. (<b>d</b>) Piston protrusion dependent force sensing range selection. Stiffness measurement obtained when the piston protrusion (<span class="html-italic">x</span><span class="html-italic">i</span>) was (<b>e</b>) 6 mm and (<b>f</b>) 3 mm. For both cases, <span class="html-italic">d<sub>t</sub></span> was 6 mm, and <span class="html-italic">k</span><sub>1</sub> was 2.7 N/mm. (note that (<b>e</b>) is the same as <a href="#sensors-17-02686-f008" class="html-fig">Figure 8</a>e).</p> "> Figure 10
<p>Spring constant dependent stiffness measurement. Illustration of the variation of IE for a stronger spring (<b>a</b>) and a weaker spring (<b>b</b>). (<b>c</b>) Distribution of the IE position depending on the spring constant. (<b>d</b>) Spring constant dependent force sensing range selection. Stiffness measurement obtained when the spring constant was (<b>e</b>) 6.1 N/mm and (<b>f</b>) 2.7 N/mm. For both cases, <span class="html-italic">d<sub>t</sub></span> was 6 mm, and <span class="html-italic">x<sub>i</sub></span> was 3 mm. (Note, (<b>f</b>) is the same as <a href="#sensors-17-02686-f009" class="html-fig">Figure 9</a>f).</p> ">
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Operating Principle of the Stiffness Measurement System
3. Fabrication of the Stiffness Measurement System
4. Calibration of f-Module and t-Modules
5. Measurement of Stiffness
5.1. Stiffness Measurement Module Assembly
5.2. Effect of t-Module Separation Length Difference
5.3. Effect of Piston Protrusion Difference
5.4. Effect of Spring Constant Difference
6. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
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Sul, O.; Choi, E.; Lee, S.-B. A Portable Stiffness Measurement System. Sensors 2017, 17, 2686. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17112686
Sul O, Choi E, Lee S-B. A Portable Stiffness Measurement System. Sensors. 2017; 17(11):2686. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17112686
Chicago/Turabian StyleSul, Onejae, Eunsuk Choi, and Seung-Beck Lee. 2017. "A Portable Stiffness Measurement System" Sensors 17, no. 11: 2686. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17112686
APA StyleSul, O., Choi, E., & Lee, S. -B. (2017). A Portable Stiffness Measurement System. Sensors, 17(11), 2686. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17112686