Reach out and touch something quantitatively!

By Control Engineering Staff July 27, 2006
Pressure Profile Systems’ finger-tip sensors are currently available only as a research and development kit. In addition to sensors, the system contains a sensing circuit, USB interface, and software.

System integrators hoping to bring ergonomic sense into human-machine interface (HMI) devices can use FingerTPS tactile pressure sensors from Pressure Profile Systems to determine—quantitatively—what forces operators have to apply and what pressures they experience when operating the devices. These tactile pressure sensors are designed to be worn on a person’s fingertips and palm, and to measure the pressures exerted while the person uses a tool or performs some other action.

Based on capacitive sensor technology, FingerTPS sensors measure pressures up to 10 lb in 0.1 lb increments. Less than 2-mm thick, they are mounted in stretchable fabric for a snug fit on the user’s fingers. The system is USB powered for Microsoft Windows PCs and supported by PC-resident software, which displays and tracks time-series, average, and peak pressures in easy to read color graphics.

Development kits for FingerTPS are priced from $2,995 for a single-hand system with two sensors; two-hand evaluation kit pricing starts at $3,995. Additional sensors can be added for $495 each.

C.G. Masi , senior editor, Control Engineerin