This document describes a method for estimating the stiffness of a spring under conditions of uncertainty, using an interval analysis approach. Key points:
- Interval analysis methods are applied to estimate spring stiffness parameters using a small dataset of force and compression measurements corrupted by unknown errors.
- An information set of possible stiffness and initial length parameters is constructed based on the measurement data and uncertainty bounds.
- A tube of admissible dependency curves is computed based on the information set, providing a guaranteed bounded range for the spring relationship.
- The interval analysis approach is shown to provide better estimates than standard statistical methods, given the limited data and lack of probability information on errors.