Schunk Force Torque Sensor FTCL50-40

Hardware

  • FTCL50-40 sensor Datasheet
  • ASCII based Communication protocol Assembly and Operating Manual
  • Check which Serial device is used (e.g., by running dmesg). On most of our machines it is /dev/ttyS0
  • Enable read/write permissions if necessary, e.g., run sudo chmod o+rw /dev/ttyS0 or add user to dialout group
  • Tell Matlab which serial ports to use: copy the java.opts file to your Matlab bin folder, e.g., to /usr/local/MATLAB/R2012a/bin/glnxa64/
  • Features frame rates of up to 1000Hz
  • 6 float (4 bytes) values are transmitted that are Fx, Fy, Fz, Mx, My, Mz
  • The sensor can be set to zero via the java interface
  • Max. 50 Hz with the 10 m cable (max. baudrate is 57600)

Matlab Interface (max. 50 Hz)

Low Cost Force Plate

  • Center of Pressure estimate: x = My/Fz and y = Mx/Fz