An extruder developed at Bradford University uses a digital torque sensor provided by Sensor Technology Ltd. to handle most of its data collection. According to the company’s press release, the sensor collects data via a radio signal rather than being hard wired to the extruder. This method allows scientists to map out torque requirement—how it varies at different speed and with different materials—to define the required powertrain.

TorqSense transducers use two piezoelectric frequency resonating combs called surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices. These devices are fixed onto the shaft of the torque sensor to measure applied torque. TorqSense embraces all SAW technology and features a broader signal bandwidth than other analog-based technologies.

The extruder is a follow-up project to work on a mini-mixer for use in formulating high-performance plastics. A TorqSense transducer played a similar role in these tests.