Abstract
The teachings of the present disclosure enable rosette strain gages that can be cost-effectively produced in high volume with substantially uniform performance. Rosette strain gages in accordance with the present disclosure comprise a plurality of semiconductor strain gages that are sculpted from a device layer of a semiconductor-on-insulator wafer using deep reactive ion etching, yielding very good control over their electrical properties and physical dimensions. The strain gages are provided to an automated assembly system while attached to a frame via one or more sprues that are configured to ease their removal by the automated assembly system. The strain gages are mounted on a rosette substrate having an arrangement of contact pads and traces for connecting pairs of contact pads to different gages. The materials of the rosette substrate and strain gages are selected to efficiently transfer strain from an object under test to the strain gages.