Development of three-degree-of-freedom zero-compliance mechanism for micro force measurement with a cantilever

A multi-degree-of-freedom zero-compliance mechanism is developed for measuring micro force with a cantilever. The force acting on a tip of the cantilever is usually estimated from the displacement of the tip caused by the force. However, the position and attitude of the tip vary after force acts on the tip from the original ones. To keep them invariant, a three-degree-of-freedom zero compliance mechanism is designed, fabricated and installed into a force measurement system. In the developed measurement system, the force is estimated from the displacement/attitude of a detection point of the zero-compliance mechanism. It is confirmed analytically and experimentally that both vertical displacement and attitude of the detection point are proportional to the force applied to the tip.