Robotic sensing (Robot Sensors)
uses, types & importance
BY HEBA SOFFAR · PUBLISHED AUGUST 22, 2016 · UPDATED OCTOBER 4, 2019
Robotic sensing is the subarea of robotics science intended to
give the robots sensing capabilities so that the robots are more
human-like, Robotic sensing mainly gives the robots the ability to
see, touch, hear and move and it uses algorithms that require the
environmental feedback.
Robot Sensors
Robotic sensors are used to estimate the robot’s condition and
environment, These signals are passed to the controller to enable the
appropriate behavior, The sensors in the robots are based on the
functions of the human sensory organs, The robots require the
extensive information about their environment in order to function
effectively.
Robots need Robot Sensors to know the world around them, There
are many Robot Sensors including ultrasonic, the temperature & the
humidity, the force and a lot more to increase the robot awareness .
The sensor is the sophisticated device which measures the physical
quantity such as the speed or the pressure and it converts it into the
signal which can be measured electrically, The sensors are based on
several working principals and types of measurements, almost all
types of sensors emit the signals and measure the reflection to make
measurements.
The sensors provide analogs to the human senses, They can monitor
other phenomena for which the humans lack explicit sensors and
they can measure the physical properties such as the distance
between the objects.
The sensors can measure the presence of light and the frequency of
sound, They can measure the object proximity, They can measure the
presence or the absence of the object, bearing, the color and the
distance between the objects.
The sensors can measure the physical orientation & the co-ordinates
of the object in the space, they can measure the heat, The wavelength
of infrared or ultra violet rays, the temperature, the magnitude and
the direction.
The sensors can measure the presence and concentration of
chemicals or reactants, They can measure the presence, color and
intensity of light, They can measure the presence, frequency and
intensity of sound.
The accuracy is very important in detecting and tracking the objects,
Environmental condition affect on the sensors such as the
temperature and the humidity, you can select the sensors that can be
used to build the robot.
Robotic sensors
Robot sensors types
The internal sensors measure the robot’s internal state and they are
used to measure its position, velocity and acceleration, The position
sensors measure the position of the joint (the degree to which the
joint is extended), The velocity or speed sensor measures the
consecutive position measurements at known intervals and it
computes the time rate of change in the position values.
The presence of the object can be detected with the proximity
sensors, There are many sensors such as the ultrasonic sensors, the
capacitive, the photoelectric, the inductive or the magnetic, Tracking
the objects can work using the proximity sensors (ultrasonic
sensors), for the advanced applications generally it is used the image
sensors (webcams) and the vision software like OpenCV.
Many sensor technologies are used to build the proximity sensors,
ultrasonic sensors, capacitive, photoelectric, inductive or
magnetic, Motion detectors are based on infrared light, ultrasound or
microwave/radar technology, Image sensors are digital cameras,
camera modules and the other imaging devices based on CCD or CMOS
technology.
Uses of sensors in Robotics
The sensors are one of the useful technologies that play the vital role
in the robotics field, They are highly required in the robotics in Safety
monitoring, Interlocking in work cell control, The quality control in
work part inspection and data collection of the objects in the robot
work cell.
The sensors are used in the industrial robotics for monitoring the
dangerous and safety conditions in the robot cell layout, They help in
avoiding the physical injuries and other damages caused to the
human workers .
In the robot work cell, the series of activities of various equipments
are controlled by using the interlocks, The sensors are used to verify
the conclusion of the current work cycle before progressing to the
next cycle.
The quality control was performed with the manual inspection
system, Nowadays, The sensors are used in the inspection process to
determine the quality features of the work part automatically, The
sensors provide high accurate results but the sensors are only able to
examine the limited variety of work part features and faults .
The sensors are used in data collection of objects in the robot work
cell to determine the position or other related data about the fixtures,
the work parts, the equipment, the human workers and so on, Apart
from sensing the position, It is implemented to find out the other
information like the work part’s color, the orientation, the size, the
shape, etc.
The image quality is important in the applications which require
excellent robotic vision, Algorithm based on the wavelet transform
for fusing the images of different spectra and different foci improves
the image quality, The robots can collect more accurate information
from the resulting improved image .
The visual sensors help the robots to identify the surrounding and
they take appropriate action, Touch sensory signal is useful to
identify the external tactile signals for the accurate operations, Touch
patterns enable the robots to interpret the human emotions in
interactive applications.
The robots use touch signals to map the profile of the surface in
hostile environment such as the water pipe, The predetermined path
was programmed into the robot, with the integration of touch
sensors, The robots first acquire the random data point .
The accurate audio sensor requires low internal noise contribution,
audio sensors combine the acoustical arrays and the microphones to
reduce the internal noise level.
The automated robots require the guidance system to determine the
path to perform its task, the only way to achieve motion in such
environment is to replace the sensors with the chemical reactions .