Use FSR instead of Strain Gauge

[Chaphasilor]

Hi there,

as you've mentioned multiple times in the readme, working with strain gauges isn't trivial, so it's easy to screw up when mounting them to the PCB. You can practice mounting them somewhere else beforehand of course, but that means ordering more units than you'd actually need.

I'm currently working on a project where I also need to detect pressure being applied to something, and I've found that Force-Sensitive Resistors (FSRs) are quite easy to work with and offer a straight-forward implementation when it comes to measuring force.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about They usually are a bit more expensive, but as I mentioned, working with them is probably easier than using strain gauges.

Maybe give them a try? :)

[st157322]

Even easier would be this solution: https://github.com/IvDm/Z-probe-on-smd-resistors-2512

[omdathetkan]

Another thing to consider is inductive sensing (for example the TI LDC3113). This allows measuring micrometer level displacement (to a metal target).