Robotic Sensors

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 Sensor
Definition: a device for sensing a physical variable
of a physical system or an environment.
• Sensors are used in robots for both internal
feedback control and external interaction with the
outside environment.
• The links and joints move sensors such as
potentiometer, encoders, and resolvers send
signals to the controller that allow it to determine
where each joint is.
• There are many different types of sensors
available such as position, velocity, acceleration,
pressure, force/torque, and range finders.
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 The need of sensor in robot
To accurately achieve a task in an intelligent
environment, a robot has to be able to
react dynamically to changes on its
surrounding
• Robots need sensors to perceive the
environment
• Most robots use a set of different sensors
• Different sensors serve different purposes
• Information from sensors has to be
integrated into the control of the robot
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 Environmental Sensors
Provide information about the objects in the
surrounding
• Detect presence of work piece
• Determine position and orientation of work piece
• Provide information about environmental
variables such as temperature, humidity
Information is used by the control computer to
adapt trajectory

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 Classification of Sensors
Sensors a physical element which produces a signal relating
to the quantity being measured.
• Type of sensors: Analog, Digital, Active, Passive
• Analog: Output is Continuous, requires ADC to
interface.
• Digital: the output is in the form of digital signal, can be
directly interfaced to digital system.
• Active sensors: need separate power source to obtain the
output. radar, sonar, potentiometer,
• Passive sensors: these are self generating, produces
electrical signal when subjected to sensed quantity.
Piezoelectric, thermocouple, radioactive…. 5
 Classification Cont’d
Proprioception (Internal state) and Exteroceptive
(external state)
• Measure values internally to the system (robot), e.g. battery
level, wheel position, joint angle, etc,
• Observation of environments, objects
Contact and non-contact
• Touch, proximity sensors
• Distance measurement sensors like IR sensor
Visual andnon-visual
• Vision-based sensing, image processing, video camera

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 Characteristics of Sensor
The main characteristics that determines the performance,
economy, ease of application, and applicability of the
sensor.
Cost: the cost of sensor must be considered when a
number of sensors are needed for the robot. The cost of
the sensor must be balanced with the reliability,
accuracy and life of the sensor.
Size: the size of the sensor has an effect on the movement
of the robot joint.
Weight: the weight of the sensors is very important
because it will affect the over all inertia of the robot
and payload.
Type of output: it may be digital or analog. The nature of
the signal determines the requirement of accessories.7
 Characteristics Cont’d
Interfacing: the interfacing between the sensor and the
device can become an important issue if they do not
match or if other add-on circuits become necessary.
Resolution: it is the minimum step size within the range of
measurement of the sensor. In a wire-wound
potentiometer, it will be equal to the resistance of one
turn of the wire. For a digital devices with n bits, the
resolution becomes;

Sensitivity: is the ratio of a change in output in response to a

change in input. Highly sensitive sensors will show larger
fluctuations in output as a result of fluctuation in input,
including noise.
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 Characteristics Cont’d
Linearity: the relationship between input variations and output
variations. For linear sensor, the same change in input at any
level within the range will produce the same change in output.
Range: the difference between the smallest and the largest
outputs the sensor can produce.
Response time: the time that a sensor’s output requires to reach a
certain percentage of the total change. It is usually expressed
in percentage of total change, such as 95%.
Frequency response: the frequency range of the sensor is
important. The large the range of the frequency response, the
better the ability of the system to response to varying input.
Reliability: the ratio of how many times a system operates
properly divided by how many times it is tried.
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 Characteristics Cont’d
Accuracy: is how close the output of the sensor is to the
expected value. If for a given input, the output is expected
to be a certain value, the accuracy is related to how close
the sensor’s output is to this value.
Repeatability: if the sensor’s output is measured a number
of times in response to the same input, the output may be
different each time. Repeatability is a measure of how
varies the different output are relative to each other.
True value

Measurement 10
 Accuracy vs. Precision

Precision without Accuracy

Precision and
accuracy without precision
accuracy

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 Quantities to be measured?

• Linear displacement
Angular displacement
• Velocity,
acceleration
• Force, torque
• Angular rate etc…

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 Sensors Used in Robot
Resistive sensors
 bend sensors, potentiometer, resistive photocells, ...
Tactile sensors
 contact switch, bumpers…
Infrared sensors
 Reflective, proximity, distance sensors…
Ultrasonic Distance Sensor
Inertial Sensors (measure the second derivatives of position)
 Accelerometer, Gyroscopes,
Orientation Sensors
 Compass, Inclinometer
Laser range sensors
Vision, GPS, …
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 Gas Sensor
Accelerometer Gyro

Metal Detector
Pendulum Resistive
Tilt Sensors Piezo Bend Sensor
Gieger-Muller
Radiation Sensor

Pyroelectric Detector

UV Detector
Resistive Bend Sensors

CDS Cell
Resistive Light Sensor
Digital Infrared Ranging

Pressure Switch
Miniature Polaroid Sensor
Limit Switch Touch Switch
Mechanical Tilt Sensors

IR Pin IR Sensor w/lens

Diode
Thyristor
Magnetic Sensor

Polaroid Sensor Board

Hall Effect
Magnetic Reed Switch Magnetic Field
IR Reflection
IR Amplifier Sensor Sensors
Sensor
IRDA Transceiver

IR Modulator
Lite-On IR Radio Shack Solar Cell
Receiver
Remote Receiver
Remote Receiver
Compass Compass 14
Piezo Ultrasonic Transducers
 Resistive Sensors
Bend Sensors
• Resistance = 10k to 35k
• As the strip is bent, resistance increases Resistive Bend Sensor

Potentiometers
• Can be used as position sensors for sliding
mechanisms or rotating shafts
• Easy to find, easy to mount Potentiometer

Light Sensor (Photocell)

• Good for detecting direction/presence of light
• Non-linear resistance
• Slow response to light changes Photocell
R is small when brightly illuminated

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 Applications
Sensor

• Measure bend of a joint

Sensors
• Wall Following/Collision
Detection

Sensor

• Weight Sensor

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 Inputs for Resistive Sensors
V
Voltage divider:
R1
Vsense
You have two resisters, one
R2
is fixed and the other varies,
as well as a constant voltage A/D converter
R2
Vsense  V micro
R1  R2
V

+ Binary Digital I/O

- Threshold

Comparator:
If voltage at + is greater than at -,
digital high out
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 Infrared Sensors
 Intensity based infrared
• Reflective sensors
• Easy to implement
• susceptible to ambient light
 Modulated Infrared
• Proximity sensors
• Requires modulated IR signal
• Insensitive to ambient light
 Infrared Ranging
• Distance sensors
• Short range distance measurement
• Impervious to ambient light, color and reflectivity of
object

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 Intensity Based Infrared
Break-Beam sensor

Reflective Sensor
Increase in ambient light
raises DC bias

voltage
• Easy to implement (few
components) time
• Works very well in controlled voltage

environments
• Sensitive to ambient light
time

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 IR Reflective Sensors
 Reflective Sensor:
• Emitter IR LED + detector photodiode/phototransistor
• Phototransistor: the more light reaching the phototransistor, the more
current passes through it
• A beam of light is reflected off a surface and into a detector
• Light usually in infrared spectrum, IR light is invisible

 Applications:
• Object detection,
• Line following, Wall tracking
• Optical encoder (Break-Beam sensor)

 Drawbacks:
• Susceptible to ambient lighting
 Provide sheath to insulate the device from outside lighting
• Susceptible to reflectivity of objects
• Susceptible to the distance between sensor and the object
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 Modulated Infrared
 Modulation and Demodulation
• Flashing a light source at a particular frequency
• Demodulator is tuned to the specific frequency of light flashes.
(32kHz~45kHz)
• Flashes of light can be detected even if they are very week
• Less susceptible to ambient lighting and reflectivity of objects
• Used in most IR remote control units, proximity sensors

Negative true logic:

Detect = 0v
No detect = 5v

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 IR Proximity Sensors
amplifier bandpass filter integrator
limiter demodulator comparator

 Proximity Sensors:
• Requires a modulated IR LED, a detector module with built-in
modulation decoder
• Current through the IR LED should be limited: adding a series resistor
in LED driver circuit
• Detection range: varies with different objects (shiny white card vs.
dull black object)
• Insensitive to ambient light
 Applications:
• Rough distance measurement
• Obstacle avoidance
• Wall following, line following
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 IR Distance Sensors
Basic principle of operation:
• IR emitter + focusing lens + position-sensitive detector

Modulated IR light

Location of the spot on the detector corresponds to

the distance to the target surface, Optics to covert
horizontal distance to vertical distance.

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 IR Distance Sensors
Sharp GP2D02 IR Ranger
• Distance range: 10cm (4") ~ 80cm (30").
• Moderately reliable for distance measurement
• Immune to ambient light
• Impervious to color and reflectivity of object
• Applications: distance measurement, wall following, …

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 Basic Navigation Techniques
 Relative Positioning (called Dead-reckoning)
Information required: incremental (internal)
 Velocity
 heading
With this technique the position can be updated with respect
to a starting point
Problems: unbounded accumulation error
 Absolute Positioning
Information Required: absolute (external)
Absolute references (wall, corner, landmark)
Methods
 Magnetic Compasses (absolute heading, earth’s magnetic field)
 Active Beacons
 Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
 Landmark Navigation (absolute references: wall, corner, artificial
landmark)
 Map-based positioning
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 Sensors Used In Navigation
Dead Reckoning External Sensors
Odometry (monitoring the • Compass
wheel revolution to compute the • Ultrasonic
offset from a known starting
position) • Laser range sensors
 Encoders, • Radar
 Potentiometer, • Vision
 Tachometer, … • Global Positioning
Inertial Sensors (measure System (GPS)
the second derivative of position)
 Gyroscopes,
 Accelerometer, …

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 Encoders
It generates an output digital signal for each small position of a
movement. The encoder wheel is divided into small either
opaque or clear sections.
A light source, such as an LED, on one side provides a beam of
light to the other side of the encoder wheel, where it is seen by
another light-sensitive sensor like phototransistor.
There are two basic types of encoders: Incremental and absolute.

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 Incremental Optical Encoders
• Relative position
calibration ?
direction ?
light sensor
resolution ?

decode
light emitter circuitry
grating

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 Incremental Optical Encoders
If there are 100 lines in the
grating, what is the smallest
detectable change in motor-shaft
angle?

How could you augment a

grating-based (relative) encoder
in order to detect the direction of light emitter/detector
rotation?

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 Incremental Optical Encoders
Relative position

light sensor

decode
light emitter circuitry
• It generates pulses proportional
to the rotation speed of the shaft.
grating
• Direction can also be indicated
A with a two phase encoder:

A A leads B

B B
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 Incremental
Incremental Encoder:
Optical Encoders
A

B A leads B

ChA

ChB

DIR

Encoder pulse and motor direction

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 Absolute Optical Encoders
• Used when loss of reference is not possible.
• Gray codes: only one bit changes at a time ( less uncertainty).
• The information is transferred in parallel form (many wires are necessary).

Binary Gray Code

000 000

001 001

010 011

011 010

100 110

101 111

110 101

111 100

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 Linear Variable Differential Transformer
It is a transformer whose core moves along
with the distance being measured and that
output a variable analog voltage as a result
of this displacement.
The electric energy into one coil creates a flux,
which induces a voltage in the second coil
proportional to the ratio of the number of
turns in the windings.
The output of an LVDT is very linear
proportional to the input position of the
core.

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 Potentiometer
It converts position information into a variable voltage
through a resistor.
As the sweeper on the resistor moves due to a change in
position, the proportion of the resistance before or
after the point of contact with the sweeper compared
with the total resistance varies.
Potentiometers are generally used as internal feedback
sensors in order to report the position of joints and
links.

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 Magneto Reflective Displacement
Sensor
A pulse is sent through a conductor, which bounces back as
it reaches a magnet. The time of travel to the magnet and
back is converted to the distance if the speed of travel is
known.
By attaching the moving part to either the magnet or the
conductor, the displacement can be measured.

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 Tachometer

Is a generator that converts

mechanical energy into
electrical energy.
Its output is an analog voltage
proportional to the input
angular speed.
The back emf induced is
proportional to the angular
velocity of the shaft.
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 Differentiation of Position Signal
Differentiating the position signal to convert into velocity
signal. However, differentiation of a signal is always
noisy and should be done with especial care.
Using R-C circuit with an opamp that can be used for
differentiation and integration.

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 Photo-reflector Sensors
Used for grippers in pick and place task

When object is not reached, both sensors give high

output
When object is at center of the two, both have low
output
If one is high and other is low, object is not placed
correctly
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 Stress Sensors
Semiconductor strain gages
• Are piezoelectric materials such as crystalline
quartz
• When material is stressed a change in the
electronic charge across the faces of the crystal
occurs
• The change in the charge is sensed using various
circuits, Example- Charge Amplifier circuit

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 Strain Gauges
• Strain gauges can be used to measure forces. The output
of the strain gauge is a variable resistance, proportional
to the strain, which itself is a function of applied forces.
• Strain gauges are used to determine the forces at the end
effector and the wrist of a robot.

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 Torque Sensors
• Torque can be measured by a pair of strategically
placed force sensors. Suppose that two force sensors
are placed on a shaft, it generates two opposing
forces on the shaft’s body, causing opposite direction
strains.
• To measure torques about different axes, three pairs
of mutually perpendicular sensors must be used.

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 Proximity Sensors
Are very common and useful in robotics and automated
machinery applications
• Inductive proximity sensors

 Induce magnetic field or eddy current into the

target
 Sense the presence of ferric magnetic material
• Capacitive proximity sensors

 Sense presence of any material

• Photo electric proximity sensors

 Used in grippers to sense obstacles

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 Touch and Tactile Sensors
Touch sensors are devices that send a signal when
physical contact has been made.
The simplest form of a touch sensor is a microswitch,
which either turns on or off as contact is made.
Force sensor used as a touch sensors may not only send
touch information, but also repot how strong the
touching force is.
A tactile sensor is a collection of touch sensors that in
addition to determining contact can also provide
additional information about object size, shape and
material type.
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 Range Finder
Time of Flight
The measured pulses typically come form
ultrasonic, RF and optical energy sources.
• D=v*t
• D = round-trip distance
• v = speed of wave propagation
• t = elapsed time
Sound = 0.3 meters/msec
RF/light = 0.3 meters / ns (Very difficult to
measure short distances 1-100 meters)

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 Ultrasonic Sensors
Basic principle of operation:
• Emit a quick burst of ultrasound (50kHz), (human hearing:
20Hz to 20kHz)
• Measure the elapsed time until the receiver indicates that an

echo is detected.
• Determine how far away the nearest object is from the sensor

D=v*t
D = round-trip distance
v = speed of propagation(340
m/s)
t = elapsed time

Bat, dolphin, …

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 Ultrasonic Sensors

• Ranging is accurate but bearing has a 30 degree uncertainty.

The object can be located anywhere in the arc.
• Typical ranges are of the order of several centimeters to 30
meters.
• Another problem is the propagation time. The ultrasonic signal
will take 200 msec to travel 60 meters. ( 30 meters roundtrip @
340 m/s )
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 Ultrasonic Proximity
There are two modes of operations for ultrasonic
sensors, namely opposed mode and echo mode.
In opposed mode, a receiver is placed in front of the
emitter, whereas in eacho mode, the receiver is either
next to , or integrated into, the emitter and receiver
the reflected sound wave.

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 Range Finders
Range finders are used to find larger distance, to detect
obstacles, and to map surfaces of objects.
Range finders are generally based on light and
ultrasonics.
The to common methods of measurement are
triangulation and time of flight or lapsed time.

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Range Finders Cont’d

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 Inertial Sensors
Gyroscopes
• Measure the rate of rotation independent of the
coordinate frame
• Common applications:
 Heading sensors, Full Inertial Navigation systems (INS)
Accelerometers
• Measure accelerations with respect to an inertial frame
• Common applications:
 Tilt sensor in static applications, Vibration Analysis, Full
INS Systems

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 Acceleration Sensor
Accelerometer are very common
sensors for measuring
accelerations. However, in
general, accelerometers are not
used with industrial robots, since
no acceleration is generally
measured in these robots.
However, recently, acceleration
measurements have been used
for high-precision control of
linear actuators and for joint-
feedback control of robots.

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 Accelerometers
They measure the inertia force generated when a mass is
affected by a change in velocity.
This force may change
• The tension of a string

• The deflection of a beam

• The vibrating frequency of a mass

Main elements of an accelerometer:

1. Mass 2. Suspension mechanism 3. Sensing element

d 2x dx
F  m 2  c  kx
d t dt
High quality accelerometers include a servo loop to improve the linearity of the
sensor.
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 Gyroscopes
These devices return a signal proportional to the
rotational velocity.
There is a large variety of gyroscopes that are based
on different principles

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