Hey guys, I just had a quick question:
for my project, I need something that can detect pull or force.... I came across the strain gauge....
the board is essentially a needle, that moves based on your natural movements, I was wondering would those slight movements,
like the ones produced by your arms when youre walking and swinging your arms be high enough to be detected by the strain gauge?
the pulls need to be light enough like when you move your hand slightly, but also needs to support speeds up to like 40/50mph....
also, the price needs to be really low, I saw on alibaba that the strain gauge costs like 1$? I can provide images, but its not detecting my files right now for some reason....

let me try.......
strain gauge--> ===== -----l---- ===== <-- strain gauge
needle moves left and right and pulls on the strain gauge in opp directions

does something like this work? or am I misunderstanding what a strain gauge is?

 

Most strain gauges look like these:

Also Google "Load cell"

 

so do you understand what I mean? If you attach a wire to the end of the strain gauge and measure the pull on one end by the needle, could you get a reading? is the load cell tiny? for my project weight, size and cost need to be very low =/ could I use this to measure movement based on the electrical difference detected by the gauge? yes? no?

 

The strain gauge shown in the pictures I linked you to is bonded (using a very special adhesive) to a slab of steel or aluminum. The gauge measures the deformation of the metal to which it is attached. The strain it takes to produce the deformation is orders of magnitude more than what you are describing...

You might do better looking at sensors that measure bending

 

could I use this to measure movement based on the electrical difference detected by the gauge? yes? no?

Sounds like you want an accelerometer.

 

or some garden variety fruit scales with a meter

 

yeah, I thought of the fruit scale, only problem is, I need to convert the analog signal into a digital one. That and it needs to be small and light and cheap. I've also looked into scales like those mini gram scales as well...... and by small I mean mm. not inches.... or maybe 1" .........................-sigh- I'll keep looking, let me know if you guys know of anything like described. and light needs to be ounces....... I've got maybe 1/2lb to work with =[ and I need like 12 of them.... I'll think of other ways of measuring force/movement..... they have to be mini too....