DEC50122-Embedded Robotic

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 2.0 SENSORS AND ACTUATORS

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (CLO):

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

CLO1 : Investigate the concept and fundamentals of mobile robotic,

embedded controller, sensors and actuators based on land mobile
robot design. (C4, PLO4)

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2.0 SENSORS AND ACTUATORS

2.1 Understand sensor categories

Output
signals Differences
Applications
Analog passive and
vs active
Digital sensors

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 Relate sensor categories according to their output signals

Analog Sensor
Analog sensors produce continuous analog output signal. There are various types of analog sensors;
examples of types of analog sensors are as follows: accelerometers, pressure sensors, light sensors,
sound sensors, temperature sensors, and so on.

Digital Sensor
Digital Sensors produces discrete digital output signal or voltage which is digital representation of
quantity to be measured. It is ideal for reading discrete values (i.e. binary values 1 (ON) and 0 (OFF)).
Examples of types of digital sensors are as follows: Digital Light Sensor, push button, distance
sensor, line follower sensor and so on.

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 Relate sensor categories according to their applications
The sensors category can be summarized according to their output signals and application as in the table
below:
Sensor Output Sample Application Function

Binary signal Tactile / Measure a contact between two objects

(0 or 1) Touch sensor over an area
Analog signal Inclinometer / Measure the angle of objects based on
(e.g. 0-5V) Tilt Sensor gravity
Timing signal Gyroscope Measuring the orientation and the angular
(e.g. PWM) velocity
Serial link GPS module, Global Positioning System determine your
(RS232 or USB) PS2 remote position in three dimensions - east, north
controller and altitude.
PS2 remote is wireless controller works with
2.4GHz frequency and it has a range of 10
meters.
Parallel link Digital camera, Send video image
printer Print the image data
Table 1: Sensor's category according to the output signals and applications Free PowerPoint Templates
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 Explain difference between passive and active types of sensors

Active
sensors VS Passive
sensors
Active Remote sensors create their Passive sensor detects the naturally emitted
own electromagnetic energy that is microwave energy within its field of view.
transmitted from the sensor Active sensors Passive sensors
towards the terrain, interacts with 1. On-board camera 1. Battery sensor
2. Infrared Distance 2. Temperature sensor
the terrain producing a backscatter Sensor 3. Shaft encoders
of energy and is recorded by the 3. Laser Scanner 4. Accelerometer
remote sensor’s receiver. 4. Sonar Sensor 5. Gyroscope
5. Global Positioning 6. Inclinometer
System - GPS 7. Compass
8. Overhead camera
9. Satellite GPS
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 2.2 Apply sensor and actuator theory of operation

2.2.1 Expose sensor theory of operation for the following:

Analog sensor : Variable

Resistor

LDR
potentiometer detect light monitor temperature

Digital sensor : Ultrasonic

touch PIR

tactile /touch measure distance monitor motion

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 2.2 Apply sensor and actuator theory of operation

2.2.1 Expose sensor theory of operation for the following:

compass gyroscope accelerometer Inclinometer Lidar Barometer

i. Compass - to give the right directions with respect to the North and South .
ii. Gyroscope - Measuring the rotational change of orientation about one axis.
iii. Accelerometer - Measuring the acceleration along one axis.
iv. Inclinometer/Tilt - Measuring the absolute orientation angle about one axis.
v. Lidar- acronym for “light detection and ranging”. Sometimes called “laser scanning” or “3D scanning”. The
technology uses eye-safe laser beams to create a 3D representation of the surveyed environment.
vi. Barometer – Measure atmospheric pressure with respect to height from the sea level.

Example: Gyroscope and accelerometer sensor are usually used in the balancing robot.
Lidar and camera sensors used make autonomous vehicles by 3D view of its surroundings.
Barometer and GPS sensor to determine height and geographic locations of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Drone). Free PowerPoint Templates
 2.2 Apply sensor and actuator theory of operation

2.2.2 Expose actuator theory of operation for the following:

DC motor Stepper motor Servo motor

DC motor have two wires out of
them (+/-). DC motors can turn in
either direction (clockwise or
counter-clockwise) 360 degree and
can be easily controlled by inverting
the polarity of the applied voltage.
We can control the speed of the DC
motor by simply controlling the input
voltage to the motor and the most
common method of doing that is by
using PWM signal.
Stepper motor bipolar have 4-wire while
unipolar have 5-wire. Stepper motors can be
moved forward or backward, instead of
smooth continuous motion in a standard DC
motor. Stepper motor drives with switch
selectable full and half step modes. Standard
full stepping motors have 200 rotor teeth.
Dividing the 200 steps into 360° of rotation
equals 1.8° step angle. Half step means that
the step motor is rotating at 400 steps/0.9°.
Half-step mode produces a smoother motion
than full-step mode.
Servo motor have three wires coming
out of them. Out of which two will be
used for Supply (positive and
negative) and one will be used for
the signal that is to be sent from the
Microcontroller. It’s can be rotated
from 0 to 180 degree. Pulse of 1 ms
(1 millisecond) width can rotate servo
to 0 degree, 1.5ms can rotate to 90
degree (neutral position) and 2 ms
pulse can rotate it to 180 degree.
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 2.3 Apply sensor and actuator in robotic application

2.3.1 Assign the following type of sensors used in robotic application :

a. Light sensor (LDR sensor) b. Distance sensor (Ultrasonic sensor)

Light Following Robot Obstacle Avoiding Robot

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 2.3 Apply sensor and actuator in robotic application

2.3.2 Employ types of methods to control

motor speed or direction
in mobile robots using the following:

a. Motor speed control – Pulse Width

Modulation (PWM)
PWM is a method through which we can
generate variable voltage by turning on and
off the power that’s going to the electronic
device at a fast rate. The average voltage
depends on the duty cycle of the signal, or
the amount of time the signal is ON versus
the amount of time the signal is OFF in a
single period of time.

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 2.3 Apply sensor and actuator in robotic application

b. Motor direction control – H-Bridge

An H-Bridge circuit contains four switching

elements, transistors or MOSFETs, with the
motor at the center forming an H-like
configuration. By activating two particular
switches at the same time we can change
the direction of the current flow, thus
change the rotation direction of the motor.

>When switches S1 and S4 are switched on,

motor runs in clockwise direction.
>When S2 and S3 are switched on, motor
runs in counter-clockwise direction.

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