Robotic Sensors

Activity 1:
Temperature: is a device, typically, a thermocouple or RTD that provides for
temperature measurement through an electrical signal. A thermocouple (T/C) is
made from two dissimilar metals that generate electrical voltage in direct proportion
to changes in temperature.
Voltage: typically convert lower voltages to higher voltages, or vice versa.
Current: are electronic circuits which monitor the current flow in a circuit and output
either a proportional voltage or a current.
Distance: The sensor emits an ultrasonic pulse and is captured by a receiver. Since
the speed of sound is almost constant in air, which is 344m/s, the time between
send and receive is calculated to give the distance between your robot and the
obstacle. Ultrasonic distance sensors are especially useful for underwater robots.
Position: any device that permits position measurement. It can either be an absolute
position sensor or a relative one (displacement sensor). Position sensors can be
linear, angular, or multi-axis.
Force: is the amount of acceleration required to move an object. Measuring this
dynamic force using an accelerometer tells you the velocity/speed at which your
robot is moving.
Pressure: pressure sensor measures pressure. Tactile pressure sensors are useful in
robotics as they are sensitive to touch, force and pressure. If you design a robot
hand and need to measure the amount of grip and pressure required to hold an
object, then this is what you would want to use
Humidity: the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor (H2O) in the mixture to the
saturated vapor pressure of water at a given temperature.
Light: something that a robot can use to detect the current ambient light level
PH: a device used for potentiometric ally measuring the pH, which is either the
concentration or the activity of hydrogen ions, of an aqueous solution. It usually has
a glass electrode plus a calomel reference electrode, or a combination electrode.
Contact: a device that responds to a physical stimulus (as heat, light, sound,
pressure, magnetism, or a particular motion) and transmits a resulting impulse (as
for measurement or operating a control)
Sound Infared: s a measure of the sensitivity of a detector of thermal radiation in
the infrared, terahertz or microwave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Activity 2:
Linear: measures the linear position of a device. The sensor reads the measurement
in order to convert the encoded position into an analog or digital signal. Eg:

Rotational: A technique used to locate a given sector, a desired track, and a specific
record by continuous comparison of the read/write head position with appropriate
synchronization signals.