Non-contact digital torque sensor
September 1st 2007 Development of a vertical take-off
and landing unmanned aerial
vehicle is nearing completion,
thanks in part to a non-contact
digital torque sensor, TorqSense.
The low-cost, flexible search and
surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle
is intended for military, homeland
security, policing and environmental
monitoring. The vector-thrust UAV
platform is suitable for any situation
requiring safe aerial viewing or
sensor measurement.
TorqSense from Sensor
Technology has a digital
measurement
system that uses
two tiny ceramic
piezoelectric
quartz combs,
resonating at
fixed frequencies
and fixed to its
shaft. As the
shaft rotates and
torque is applied
the combs distort
and the resonant
frequencies
change proportionally to the
applied torque. The changes are
digitally monitored by the
electronics in a non-contact
manner using a RF couple and a
variety of outputs are available.
"Our development programme
was speeded up because of the
ease with which we could lift the
drive on and off the test rig, and
the fact we could automate the
data capture and analysis," says
Ashley Bryant, leading the project. More articles from Sensor Technology Ltd: When two is better than one (1st February 2008) Sensor Technology, the company that developed practical non-contact torque measurement, will once again unveil a major innovation at the MTEC Exhibition. New for 2008 is TorqSense RWT 330/340series, designed for use in applications where space is limited, and provides non-contact measurement of torque, speed, power and position of rotating shafts, such as machine drives, drive shafts for pumps, fans, mixers etc, and in the critical axes of test rigs... From Newsletter Stories | 
