Previous shape sensors including bend sensors and optic fiber based sensors are widely used in various applications including goniometer and surgical robots. But theses sensors have large nonlinearity, limited in the range of sensing curvature, and sometimes are expensive. This study suggests a new concept of bend sensor using cable-conduit which consists of the outer sheath and the inner wire. The outer sheath is made of helical coil whose length of the central line changes as the sheath bends. This length change of the central line can be measured with the length change of the inner cable. The modeling and the experimental results show that the output signal of the proposed sensor is linearly related with the bend angle of the sheath with root mean square error of 5.3% of 450° sensing range. Also the polynomial calibration of the sensor can decrease the root mean square error to 2.1% of the full sensing range.

• 정우석(서울대학교 대학원 기계항공공 학부 석박사통합과정) | Useok Jeong
• 조규진(서울대학교 기계항공공학부 부교수) | Kyu-Jin Cho Corresponding author