Sensors and Actuators!

Robert Stengel!
Robotics and Intelligent Systems, MAE 345,
Princeton University, 2015

! Biological Antecedents
! Critical Elements for System Observation and Control
! Control Effecters
! Output Sensors
! Navigation

Copyright 2015 by Robert Stengel. All rights reserved. For educational use only.
http://www.princeton.edu/~stengel/MAE345.html

Biologically
Inspired
Control

! Declarative
Planning
! Procedural
Formatting
! Reexive
Control
! Sensory input
! Motor output

Feedback Control Requires

Sensors and Actuators

! Sensors and actuators

have their own dynamic
characteristics

Desirable properties

! High bandwidth (
faster
than system to be controlled)
! Accuracy
! Precision
! Large dynamic range
! Sufcient power for control
! Reliability
! Low cost
3

Peripheral Sensory and Motor Neurons

Synapse: chemical/electrical axondendrite connection

Sensory and Motor Signal

Paths to the Brain

Reexive response is processed in the spinal roots

Declarative and procedural response is processed in the brain

Skeletal Muscle

!
!
!
!

Attached to the skeleton to produce motion of limbs, torso, neck, and head
Agonist-antagonist muscle pairs produce opposing motion (exion and
extension)
End-effecter strength depends on lever arm and varies with joint angle
Voluntary (declarative) commands from somatic central nervous system
6

Sensory Neuron Receptors

Neuron Receptors (corpuscles, disks, cells, muscle spindles)

generate action potentials that are transmitted to the spinal cord
Cutaneous and Sub-Cutaneous Receptors

The Eye

Retinal Cross Section

Retinal Ganglion
Cells

Amacrine and
Horizontal Cells

Rod and Cone

Cells

Biological Inertial Measurement:

The Inner Ear
Vestibular system measures
linear and angular acceleration

Integration with eye motion

10

Actuators!

11

Rubbertuator

Pneumatic analog of muscle

Contraction under pressure

Princeton
s SLIM
Robot, 1993

Robot arm

Agonist-antagonist action
produces rotation

12

Linear Hydraulic Actuator

13

Electric Actuator !
Brushed DC Motor
Two-pole DC Motor

! Current owing through armature generates a magnetic eld

! Permanent magnets torque the armature
! When armature is aligned with magnets, commutator reverses
current and magnetic eld
! Multiple poles added to allow motor to smooth output torque and
to start from any position
14

Electric Actuator !

Brushless DC Motor
! Armature is xed, and
permanent magnets rotate
! Electronic controller
commutates the
electromagnetic force,
providing a rotating eld
! Advantages
!
!
!
!
!
!

Efciency
Noise
Lifetime
Reduced EMI
Cooling
Water-resistant

15

Electric Actuator !
Stepper Motor
! Brushless,
synchronous
motor that moves
in discrete steps
! Precise, quantized
control without
feedback
! Armature teeth
offset to induce
rotary motion
16

Actuation Linkages
!
!
!
!

Gearing, leverage
Gears
Belts, Chains, Cables
Bellcranks

Belt Linkage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV_P7GBAAgo

17

Harmonic Drive
! Strain wave
gearing on motor
output
! No backlash
! High gear ratios
! Good resolution
and repeatability
! High torque
18

Ball/Roller Screw
Transforms rotary to linear motion

19

Reaction Wheel

Flywheel on a motor shaft

Reaction wheel rpm is varied to trade angular
momentum with a spacecraft for control

Three orthogonal wheels vary all components of angular momentum

Fourth wheel at oblique angle would provide redundancy

20

Control-Moment Gyro
Flywheel on a motor shaft

RPM is xed, axis is rotated to impart torque

21

Sensors!

22

Magnetometer
! Flux gate compass
!
!
!
!

Alternating current passed through one coil

Permalloy core alternately magnetized by electromagnetic eld
Corresponding magnetic eld sensed by second coil
Distortion of oscillating eld is a measure of one component of
the Earths magnetic eld

! Three magnetometers required to determine Earths

magnetic eld vector

23

Sun Angle Sensor

! Distance from centerline
measured by sensed pattern,
which determines angle, !
! With index of refraction, n,
angle to sun, !
, is
determined
! Photodetectors may provide
digital (coarse) or analog
(ne) outputs

tan ! = d / h
sin ! ' = nsin ! (Snell ' s law)
n = index of refraction

24

Potentiometer,
Synchro, and
Tachometer
Potentiometer

Tachometer

Synchro

25

Angular Encoder

Hall Effect Encoder

26

Linear
Variable
Differential
Transformer

27

Tactile Sensors
Photoelectric Key

Capacitive Touchpad
Pressure-Sensitive
Touchpad

28

Strain Gauge
Wheatstone Bridge

!=

# "R &
%$ R ('
o

Gauge Factor
29

Force Sensors

Force !
Stiffness x Displacement(Strain)
30

Pressure and Temperature Sensors

Deection of BiMetallic Element
Deection of Diaphragm
Between Chambers at
Different Pressure

!! Mercury switch - on/off

Thermistors

!! Variation in
!!Capacitance or
!!Resistance
!! Variation in Resistance

31

Air Data Sensors

32

Radar and Sonar

Tracking (Pulse) Radar

Doppler Effect
(wave source
moving to the left)
Adaptive Cruise Control Radar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOgRBtbEuig

Active Electronically Steered

Array Tracking Radar

Handheld Sonar

(Doppler) Radar Gun

33

Ultrasonic Rangender
SensComp (Polaroid) Devices

Transmit/Receive Unit

! 5 chirps/s

Chirp Spectrum

!
!
!
!

8 pulses @ 60kHz
8 pulses @ 57kHz
16 pulses @ 53kHz
24 pulses @ 50kHz

Antenna Pattern

Transmitted

Received

34

Triangulation Rangenders

35

Video and Computer Vision

CCD Sensor

CMOS Device

Optic Flow

36

Spring Deection Accelerometer

Proof
Mass

!!!
x = "ks !x m

!x =

m
!!!
x
ks

! Deection is proportional to acceleration

! Damping required to reduce oscillation

37

Force Rebalance Accelerometer

!!!
x = fx m =

torque moment arm

" !x " 0
m

! Torquer voltage required to re-center the proof mass

becomes the measure of acceleration
! Example of closed-loop control

38

MicroElectroMechanical
System (MEMS)
Accelerometer

3-DOF MEMS
Accelerometer

39

Vibrating Piezoelectric Crystal

Angular Rate Sensor
!
!

Tuning fork
 principle
4 piezoelectric crystals

With zero rate along the long axis,

sensors do not detect vibration
Differential output of the sensors is
proportional to angular rate

! 2 active, oscillating out of phase

with each other
! 2 sensors, mounted perpendicular
to the active crystals

Rotational Axis

MEMS Angular Rate Sensor

40

Halteres: !

Dragony

Biological Angular
Rate Sensors
Vestigal second pair
of wings

Giant Crane Fly

41

Beating Rate: ~600/s

All in Your Pocket

iPhone 6s

! 3-axis accelerometer
! 3-axis angular rate
! 2-axis magnetometer
compass
! GPS position
measurement
! 64-bit, 1.8 GHz
processor
! 2 GB RAM
! 128 GB ash memory
! 2 cameras, mic,
speakers

#
u!
%
v!
%
w!
%
%
p
%
q
%
z=%
r
%
% ! horizontal
% !
% vertical
%
L
%
"
%
h
%$

&
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
('

42

Parrot AR.Drone 2.0

43

Mechanical Gyroscope
Angular momentum
h B = I B! B
! Body-axis moment equation

M B = h! B + !" B h B = I B !! B + !" B h B
"1
! B = IB ( M B " ! B IB ! B )

Constant nominal spin rate, n, about z axis

Ixx = Iyy << Izz
Small perturbations in "x and "y

44

Types of Mechanical Gyroscope

!! Two-degree-of-freedom gyro

! Free gyro mounted on a gimbaled platform

! Gyro stores reference direction in space
! Angle pickoffs (encoders) on gimbal axes
measure pitch and yaw angles

!! Single-degree-of-freedom gyro

! Gyro axis constrained to rotate in its case

with respect to the output axis, y, only
 measures axis rotation, and
! Synchro
torquer
 keeps ! small
! Torque applied is a measure of the input
about the x axis

!! Rate and integrating gyros

! Large angle feedback produces a rate gyro

! Large rate feedback produces an integrating
gyro
45

Optical Gyroscope
! Sagnac interferometer measures
rotational rate, "

! " = 0, photons traveling in opposite

directions complete the circuit in the
same time

! " " 0, travel length and time are
different

! On a circular path of radius R:

tCCW =

2! R $
R# '
2! R $
R# '
&% 1"
&% 1+
)( ; tCW =
) c : speed of light
c
c
c
c (

*t = tCW " tCCW

4! R 2
4A
=
#= 2#
2
c
c

R : radius
A : area

46

Physical Platform
Inertial Reference Unit
! Physical platform is
servo-driven to
maintain reference
orientation
!
!
!
!
!

Instrument feedback
Schuler pendulum
Gyro-compassing
Star trackers
GPS

! 3 Accelerometers
! 3 Angle or Angular
Rate Gyros

Early Submarine Inertial

Navigation System

47

Strapdown Inertial Measurement Unit

! Rate gyros and accelerometers rotate with the vehicle

! High dynamic range of instruments is required
! Inertial reference frame is computed rather than physical
! Use of direction cosine matrix and quaternions for attitude
reference

48

MicroElectroMechanical (MEMS)
Strapdown Inertial Measurement Unit
! 3 linear accelerometers, 3 angular rate sensors
!
!
!
!

High drift rates produce worsening navigation accuracy

Short-term accuracy sufcient for many applications
Inexpensive
GPS position updating counters the drift rate

49

Position Fixing for Navigation

(2-D Examples)

! Lines of position
! Straight line
! Circle
! Hyperbola

Angle-Range

Angle-Angle

Time Difference: Hyperbolic

lines of position

Kayton & Fried

Range-Range

50

Global Positioning
System (GPS)
! Six orbital planes with four satellites each
! Altitude: 20,200 km (10,900 nm)
! Inclination : 55 deg
! Constellation planes separated by 60 deg

! Each satellite contains an atomic clock and broadcasts a 30sec message at 50 bps
! Ephemeris
! ID
! Clock data

! Details of satellite signal at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gps

! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_6yeGcpoyE
51

Position Fixing
from Four GPS
Satellites
! Pseudorange estimated from
speed of light and time
required to receive signal

!ti = ( t received " t sent )Satellite # i

Satellite #1 : R1p = c!t1

Satellite # 2 : R2 p = c!t 2

Satellite # 3 : R3p = c!t 3

Satellite # 4 : R4 p = c!t 4

User clock inaccuracy produces error, Cu

Cu = c!tuser clock error

52

Position Fixing from

Four GPS Satellites
( xi , yi , zi )
( xu , yu , zu )

Satellite position:
User position:

! Satellite transmits transmit time and position via ephemeris

2

R1 =

( x1 ! x u )

+ ( y1 ! y u ) + ( z1 ! zu ) = R1 p + Cu

R2 =

( x2 ! xu )

+ ( y 2 ! y u ) + ( z2 ! zu ) = R2 p + Cu

R3 =

( x3 ! xu )

+ ( y 3 ! y u ) + ( z3 ! zu ) = R3 p + Cu

R4 =

( x4 ! xu )

+ ( y 4 ! y u ) + ( z4 ! zu ) = R4 p + Cu

! Four equations and four unknowns (xu, yu, zu, Cu)

! Accuracy improved using data from more than 4 satellites

53

Next Time:!
Introduction to
Optimization!

54

Supplementary Material

55

Muscle and Motor (Efferent) Neurons

Multipolar
neuron
Somatic Activation

Autonomic Activation

Autonomic Activation

!
!
!
!

Force is produced by contraction of individual muscle cells

Motor neurons command muscles
Each muscle cell is innervated by many overlapping neurons
Motor neuron soma are in ventral root ganglia of the spine 56

Sensory (Afferent) Neurons

Central Nervous
System

Peripheral Nervous
System

Dendrite

! Components of the peripheral nervous system that measure

pressure, temperature, vibration, etc.
! Neuron Soma located in the dorsal root at the base of the spine
! The sensory neuron is pseudo-unipolar
! Input from a single receptors axon
! Output to a single axon to synapses in the spinal column

57

Motor Neuron Receptors

58

Synapses Excite or Inhibit

Downstream Cellular Activity

! Post-synaptic cell can be a neuron, a muscle, or a gland

59

Optic Schema
Eyes

Visual Cortex

60

61

62

63

Autonomous Control of
Miniature Aircraft Using
Optical Flow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7QxDJiZHwI&feature=related

Swinglet, Ecole Polytechnique, Lausanne

Optical Mouse
Sensors and
Lenses

64

Gyroscope Equations
of Motion
Linearized equations of angular rate change
# !"! x
%
% !"! y
%
$ 0

& # I xx
( %
(=% 0
( % 0
' %$

I yy
0

0 &
(
0 (
(
I zz (
'

)1

## M
x
%%
%% M y
%%
%$ $ 0

# !"! x
%
% !"! y
%
$ 0

# !"! x
%
%$ !"! y

& *
0
( ,
n
(),
( , )!"
y
' +

& #
( %
(=%
( %
' %$

& #
0
(=%
(' % n ( I zz ) I xx ) / I yy
%$

)n
0
!" x

!" y - * I xx
/,
)!" x / , 0
/, 0
0
.+

0 - * !" x
/
0 / ,, !" y
I zz /. ,+ n

I yy
0

# M x ) n I zz ) I yy !" y & I xx &

$
'
(
(
#$ M y ) n ( I xx ) I zz ) !" x &' I yy (
(
0
'

n I yy ) I zz / I xx & # !" x
(%
( % !" y
0
(' $

& # M x / I xx
(+%
(' %$ M y / I yy

&
(
('
65

Gyroscope Natural Frequency

Laplace transform of dynamic equation
"
s
$
$ !n I ! I / I
( zz xx ) yy
$#

!n I yy ! I zz / I xx % " () y (s)
'$
' $ () y (s)
s
'& #

! Characteristic equation
! Natural frequency, "n,
of small perturbations

#I
&
! n = n % zz " 1(
$ I xx '

rad / sec

% " M (s) / I
x
xx
'=$
' $ M y (s) / I yy
& #

%
'
'&

#I
&
!(s) = s + n % zz " 1( = 0
$ I xx '
2

Example

n = 36,000 rpm = 3, 770 rad / sec

I
Thin disk: zz = 2
I xx
! n = 3, 770 rad / sec = 600 Hz

66

-&
/(
/(
/. (
('

Two-Degree of Freedom Gyroscope

! Free gyro mounted on a gimbaled platform

! Gyro stores reference direction in space
! Angle pickoffs (encoders) on gimbal axes
measure pitch and yaw angles
! Direction can be precessed by applying a torque

67

Single-Degree-ofFreedom
Gyroscope
Gyro axis constrained to rotate in its case with
respect to the output axis, y, only

$ !"!
&
&% !#! y

!# y
' $
&
)=
)( & hrotor !# x + M ycontrol
&%

I yy

'
)
)
)(

Synchro
 measures axis rotation, and torquer keeps # small
Torque applied is a measure of the input about the x axis

M ycontrol = k! "! + k# "# y + kc "uc

68

Rate and Integrating

Gyroscopes
! Large angle feedback produces
a rate gyro

! Analogous to a mechanical spring

restraint
!"! ySS = 0 = hrotor !" xSS + k# !# SS

!# SS = $

hrotor
!" xSS
k#

I yy

! Large rate feedback produces an integrating gyro

! Analogous to a mechanical damper restraint

!"! ySS = 0 = hrotor !" xSS + k" !" ySS

!" ySS = #

hrotor
!" xSS
k"

I yy

!$ SS = !%SS

69

Ring Laser Gyro

! Laser in optical path creates
photon resonance at wavelength $
! Frequency change in cavity is
proportional to angular rate
! Three RLGs needed to measure
three angular rates

4A
#
"P
P : perimeter length
!f =

70

Fiber Optic Gyro

! Long length of ber cable wrapped in a
circle
! Photon source and sensor are external
to the ber optics
! Length difference for opposite beams is

!L =

4AN
"
c

A : included area
N : number of turns

! Phase difference is proportional to

angular rate

!" =

8# AN
%
$c
71