MEMS Barometer-Based Grasping Force-Sensing Forceps for a Continuum Minimally Invasive Surgical Robot with Increased Torsional Stiffness

This paper presents a grasping force-sensing forceps that can be used in a continuum minimally invasive surgical robot. In order to solve the problems of insufficient torsional stiffness of the forceps and lack of grasping force feedback, two key components are considered in this paper: a torsional increase device and a grasping force sensor. By adding a reducer with keys in the forceps base, only one NiTi alloy wire is needed to drive the forceps to open and close and rotate while satisfying the torsional stiffness. In terms of sensors, a micro grasping force sensor based on the BMP280 barometer chip was fabricated and embedded in the forceps. The performance of the sensor and the forceps were evaluated experimentally. The range of the micro grasping force sensor is 0-1.62 N with an accuracy of 0.005 N. The range of the grasping force-sensing forceps is 0–1 N with an accuracy of 0.02 N.