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Sensors
How do you
sense things?

Understanding the Basics of AMR Technology:

What You Need to Know
AMR Basics: Sensors

2D Laser Scanner with

25m (75ft) range

This image shows the 6 axis gyro and

sensors that are used accelerometer
by robot for mapping,
navigation (localization
& obstacle avoidance),
and object detection.

2x 3D cameras with 4m
(12ft) range Encoders that give the
wheels mm resolution
AMR Basics: Sensors
Inside the Freight100 wheel motor

Molded tire
(doesn’t come off)

LED & photodiode

Encoder disc

Thermistor
(temp sensor)
Photodiode

The grey parts don’t move and

the white parts spin around
them

How do encoders work?

Encoders use a light shining onto a photodiode reflected from or through slits in a metal or glass disc to determine how
much something has rotated. As the wheel rotates the encoder counts the number of slits it has seen in a given amount of
time to calculate the distance travelled and velocity of the robot.
AMR Basics: Sensors

The laser pulse hits a mirror and is

bent to shoot straight out of the laser.

The laser mirror rotates at 15Hz,

allowing the robot to scan the
environment 15 times a second.

How do lasers (LiDAR) work?

Lasers scan the environment by emitting a laser pulse that is directed using a spinning mirror. When a laser pulse hits an
object in scan range, it’s reflected back to the laser receiver. The time difference between emitting and receiving, along with
signal strength, is used to calculate distance to the object with millimeter accuracy.
AMR Basics: Sensors

Texture projector RGB (color) camera

B&W stereo pair

(black and white cameras that are calibrated together)
BASELINE

How do 3D cameras work?

3D cameras work the same way that stereo cameras work, the camera computes the distance to an object by measuring
the pixel distance (parallax) between two images of the same scene and comparing it to the separation distance of the
cameras (the baseline).
AMR Basics: Sensors

?
projector

BASELINE
BASELINE

How do 3D cameras work?

The problem with stereo cameras is when there are no obvious objects/features to compare, like when you look at a white
wall. 3D cameras improve on stereo cameras by projecting an infrared light pattern (textured light) on the scene so that
there is always something to compare between the images.
AMR Basics: Sensors

Downward Camera Downward Camera Depth View

AMR Basics: Sensors
Why Do You Care?
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AMR Basics: Sensors

The diagram above shows the sensor coverage for the 3D cameras and laser scanner. Notice
the areas in front of the robot that are not blue or red, the robot cannot see objects in those
areas.
AMR Basics: Sensors
Depth Camera View

Upward facing 3D depth

camera
AMR Basics: Sensors
ROBOT TOP VIEW

The top down view shows the laser field of view (FOV) of 210 degrees and the camera field of
view of 85.2 degrees.
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AMR Basics: Sensors

Each of the vision sensors on the robot is used for one or more specific purposes. The laser
scanner is used for mapping, navigation (localization & obstacle avoidance), and object
detection (docking, precision markers, carts, etc). The 3D camera is used for navigation
(obstacle avoidance).
AMR Basics: Sensors

Actual Video Footage Enabled Sensors:

LiDAR
Downward 3D Camera
Upward 3D Camera
Voxels
AMR Basics: Sensors

Enabled Sensors: Enabled Sensors:

LiDAR LiDAR
Downward 3D Camera Downward 3D Camera
Upward 3D Camera Upward 3D Camera
Voxels Voxels
AMR Basics: Sensors

Enabled Sensors: Actual Video Footage

LiDAR
Downward 3D Camera
Upward 3D Camera
Voxels