SENSORS

POSITION,VELOCITY AND
ACCELERATION SENSORS

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POSITION SENSORS
• Position sensors are used to measure displacements, both rotary and
linear, as well as movements.
• The following arc common position sensors used in robotics:

1) Potentiometers
2) Encoders
3) LVDT
4) Displacement sensor

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Potentiometers
• A potentiometer 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
• Since in this capacity the potentiometer acts as a voltage divider, the output will be
proportional to the resistance.
• Potentiometers can be rotary or linear and thus can measure linear or rotary
motions.
• Potentiometers are generally used as internal feedback sensors in order to report
the position of joints and links. Potentiometers are used alone or together with
other sensors such as encoders.
Vout  Vcc R1
R

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Encoders
• An encoder is a simple device that can output a digital signal for each small portion
of a movement.
• To do this, the encoder wheel or strip is divided into small sections. as shown in Fig.
• Each section is either opaque or clear. (It can also be either reflective or
nonreflective.)
• A light source, such as an LED on one side provides a beam of light to the other side
of the encoder wheel or strip, where it is seen by another light-sensitive sensor,
such as a phototransistor.
• If the wheels angular position is such that the light can go through, the sensor on
the opposite side will be turned on and will have a high signal.
• If the angular position of the wheel is such that the light is stopped, the sensor will
be off and its output will be low.
• As the wheel rotates, it can continuously send signals. if the signals are counted,
the approximate total angular displacement of the wheel can be measured at any
time.

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• Optical encoders come in both linear and rotary versions, and except for their type
of motion, they are exactly the same and work under the same principles.

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Displacement Sensor (Magneto Reflective)
• In this 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.
• A simple schematic of the sensor is shown in Figure

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VELOCITY SENSORS
• The following are the more common velocity sensors used in
robotics.
1) ENCODERS
• If an encoder is used for displacement measurement, there is no
need to use a velocity sensor.
• Since encoders send a known number of signals for any given angular
displacement, by counting the number of signals received in a given
length of time (dt),we can calculate velocity.
• A smaller length of time (dt) yields a more accurate calculated
velocity, once that is closer to the true instantaneous velocity.
• However, if the rate of rotation of the encoder is low, the velocity
measurement may become inaccurate.
• This velocity calculation is accomplished by programming the
controller to convert number of signals in a given length of time into
velocity information. 9
2) TACHOMETERS
• A tachometer is a generator that converts mechanical energy into
electrical energy.
• Its output is an analog voltage proportional to the input angular
speed.
• It may be used along with potentiometers to estimate velocities.

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ACCELERATION SENSORS
• Accelerometers are very common sensors for measuring
accelerations.
• However, recently, acceleration measurements have been used for
high-precision control of linear actuators and for joint-feedback
control of robots.
• An accelerometer behaves as a damped mass on a spring. When
the accelerometer experiences an acceleration, the mass is
displaced to the point that the spring is able to accelerate the
mass at the same rate as the casing. The displacement is then
measured to give the acceleration.

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 FORCE SENSORS
1) Piezoelectric
• Piezoelectric material compresses if exposed to a voltage and
produces a voltage if compressed.
• Similarly, a piece of piezoelectric can be used to measure pressures,
or forces, in robotics.
• The analog output voltage must be conditioned and amplified for
use.

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2) Force-Sensing Resistor
• The Force Sensing Resistor(FSR) is a polymer thick-film device that
exhibits a decreasing resistance with increasing force applied normal
to its surface.
• For a changing force of 10 to 10,000 gram, its resistance changes
from about 500 KΩ to about 1 KΩ.
• Figure shows a typical force-sensing resistor.

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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, opposite of
each other, on opposite sides.
• If a torque is applied to the shaft, it generates two opposing forces on
the shafts body, causing opposite direction strains.
• The two force sensors can measure the forces, which can be
converted to a torque.

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TORQUE SENSORS
• To measure torques about different axes, three pairs of mutually
perpendicular sensors must be used.
• However, since forces can also be measured with the same sensors, a
total of six force sensors can generally report forces and torques
about three axes, independent of each other, as depicted in Figure.
• Pure forces generate similar signals in a pair, while torques generate
pairs of signals with opposite signs.

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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 micro switch which either
turns on or off as contact is made.
• The main switch can be set up for different sensitivities and ranges of
motion.
• For example, a strategically placed micro switch can send a signal to
the controller if a mobile robot reaches an obstacle during navigation.

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TOUCH AND TACTILE SENSORS
• More sophisticated touch sensors may send additional information.
For example, a force sensor used as a touch sensor may not only send
touch information, but also report 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
the object.
• This additional information may be about the shape, size, or type of
material.
• In most cases, a number of touch sensors are arranged in an array or
matrix form, as shown in Figure.

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TOUCH AND TACTILE SENSORS
• In this design, an array of six touch sensors is arranged on each side
of a tactile sensor.
• Each touch sensor is made up of a plunger, an LED and a light sensor.
• As the tactile sensor closes and the plunger moves in or out, it blocks
the light from the LED projecting onto the light sensor.
• The output of the light sensor is then proportional to the
displacement of the plunger.

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TOUCH AND TACTILE SENSORS
• As the tactile sensor comes in contact with an object, depending on
the shape and size of the object, different touch sensors react
differently at a different sequence.
• This information is then used by the controller to determine the size
and the shape of the object.
• Figure shows three simple setups: one touching a cube, one touching
a cylinder, and one touching an arbitrary object.
• As can be seen, each object creates a different unique signature that
can be used to detect it.

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Switch Sensors :
• .A simple tactile sensor producing an
“on–off” output can be formed with
two leaves of foil and a spacer .
• The spacer has holes.
• One leaf is grounded and the other is
connected to a pull-up resistor.
• A multiplexer can be used if
more than one sensing area is
required.
• When an external force is applied to
the upper conductor over the hole in
the spacer, the top leaf flexes and
upon reaching the lower conductor,
makes an electric contact, grounding
the pull-up resistor.
• The output signal becomes zero
indicating the applied force. 20
Capacitive Touch Sensor:
• It relies on the applied force that
either changes the distance between
the plates or the variable surface
area of the capacitor.
• To maximize the change in
capacitance as force is applied, it
is preferable to use a high
permittivity dielectric in a coaxial
capacitor design.
To measure the change in capacitance:
1. Use of a current source with a resistor and measure the time delay
caused by a variable capacitance.
2. Use the sensor as part of an oscillator with an LC or RC circuit,
and measure the frequency response.
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Capacitive Pressure Sensor
Capacitive pressure sensors are also used in electronic pressure
transmitters. With these devices the change in capacitance resulting from
the movement of an elastic element is proportional to the pressure
applied to the elastic element.

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