Load cells have long been used to sense and measure
force and torque. When properly designed and used,
they are very accurate and reliable sensors. Load cells
are applied in several different fields, usually for weighing
measurements. Among many other things, food, vehicles,
and animals are weighed daily with load cells. The gripper
of a robotic arm that picks up an object can be equipped with
load cells in order to provide compression force feedback to
the control system to prevent the object from being damaged
or released too early. Also, load cells can be used to sense
the compression forces during a robot’s walk to provide
data for the equilibrium-controlling system. In industrial
machinery, rods, beams, wheels and bars are instrumented
in order to check the forces exerted on them. The volume or
level of a tank can be measured indirectly by means of a load
cell that monitors the total weight. Lift units can also have a
load’s total weight measured to prevent overload. Because
of such a variety of possible applications, load cells are very
important.