Force Consolidators for Total Force Measurement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional force sensors embedded in shoes only measure a portion of the force exerted by a foot on a walking surface due to their limited surface area coverage, making it difficult to accurately determine the total force without using expensive custom sensors.
Innovation Solution
The use of force consolidators that reduce a portion of the surface area into a consolidated area, allowing off-the-shelf force sensors to measure the total force by concentrating the applied forces, coupled with signal processing circuitry to determine the total force exerted between an object and a surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If off-the-shelf force sensors with limited surface area are used, then device complexity and cost are reduced, but measurement precision deteriorates because only a portion of the total force is measured
Solution Approach 1:
The insole surface is divided into multiple discrete sensor locations arranged in a grid pattern, with each sensor measuring force at its specific location. The total force is then calculated by summing the measurements from all segmented sensor locations, allowing accurate total force measurement using multiple small off-the-shelf sensors rather than requiring a single large custom sensor
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple individual force measurements from separate sensors are combined through summation to determine the total force exerted on the insole. This merging of measurements from distributed sensor locations achieves accurate total force measurement while using only standard off-the-shelf sensor components
2Measurement precision
If custom force sensors covering the entire insole surface are used, then measurement precision improves to capture total force, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single custom sensor covering the entire insole surface, the measurement task is segmented into multiple discrete measurement points using standard off-the-shelf sensors. This segmentation allows the system to achieve complete surface coverage measurement capability while using only commercially available sensor components
Solution Approach 2:
Standard off-the-shelf force sensors, typically designed for single-point measurements, are deployed in a multi-point array configuration to achieve the multi-functional capability of measuring total force across the entire insole surface. This universal application of standard sensors replaces the need for specialized custom sensors
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate measurement of the total force exerted by an object on a surface using off-the-shelf sensors, overcoming the limitations of conventional sensor arrays by concentrating forces and applying non-linear conversion models for precise calculations.
Implementation Method 1
The force consolidators are each configured to reduce a portion of a surface area of the object into a consolidated surface area such that forces exerted on the portion of the surface area are concentrated in the consolidated surface area
Implementation Method 2
The force sensors 16 use any number of transduction mechanisms to convert a force exerted by a foot provided in the shoe 10 on a walking surface into a measurable electrical signal
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes the steps of providing a number of force consolidators between an object and a surface, providing a number of force sensors, each in a different one of the force consolidators, measuring an output of the force sensors, and processing the output of the force sensors to determine a total force exerted between the object and the surface. The force consolidators are each configured to reduce a portion of a surface area of the object into a consolidated surface area such that forces exerted on the portion of the surface area are concentrated in the consolidated surface area. By using the force consolidators along with the force sensors, the total force exerted by the object on the surface may be easily measured using off-the-shelf force sensor technologies.