High-sensitivity torque sensors offer force feedback for small-payload cobots

Newer force-torque sensors enable robots to move with safety, reliability, and precision. Source: Pixabay, ATO Automation

We’ve all seen it on the factory floor. A small collaborative robot is tasked with assembling a delicate electronics module. The payload is barely a couple of kilograms. The parts are light, fragile, and unforgiving. A connector bends if insertion force is off by a few tenths of a newton. A plastic latch snaps if torque spikes for even a few milliseconds.

This...