Module I

Requirement of sensors in robots used in industry, agriculture, medical field, transportation,

military, space and undersea exploration, human-robot interactions, robot control, robot
navigation, tele-operational robot etc.
Proprioceptive or Internal sensors Position sensors- encoders- linear, rotary, incremental linear
encoder, absolute linear encoder, Incremental rotary encoder, absolute rotary encoder;
potentiometers; LVDTs; velocity sensors-optical encoders, tacho generator, Hall effect sensor, ,
acceleration sensors, Heading sensors- Compass, Gyroscope sensor, IMU, GPS, real time
differential GPS, active optical and RF beacons, ultrasonic beacons, reflective beacons; Force
sensors-strain gauge based and Piezo electric based, Torque sensors- Numerical Problems;
Electronic skin, micro-cantilevers. Examples for the use of Proprioceptive sensors in robots.

References:

1. Introduction to Robotics, S K Saha, Mc Graw Hill Eduaction

2. Sensors for mobile robots, R. Siegwart, EPFL, Illah Nourbakhsh, CMU
3. Clarence W. de Silva, Sensors and Actuators: Control System Instrumentation, CRC
Press 2007, ISBN-13: 978-1420044836

Robots in various fields

Robots are currently widely applied in lots of areas such as industry, agriculture, medicine,
transportation, social service, military, space exploration, and undersea exploiting. The robot
sensor, as a key component of the robot, has been paid increasing attention by robot researchers.
Robot vision is a fundamental sensation of robot. They help to extract information in estimating
heading angle of vision system. CCD cameras and kinet sensors are commonly used vison
sensors. These are applied in the intelligent transportation industry, automated vehicle inspection,
automotive production lines. Force and tactile sensors are absolutely necessary elements for
robot when interacting with environment, which call for large range and high accuracy amplifier.
Robot sensing and environment modeling are always a key issue for robot navigation and
autonomous behaviors .Simple method to detect step height, slope angle, and trench width using
four infrared-light-source PSD range sensors. Sensors for minimally invasive surgery, will be
able to precisely sense the needle tip deflection during needle insertion procedures using a 4
DOF force sensor installed on the needle base. Tactile sensors are used in multi finger Robotic
hands to evaluate size and shape of objects by tracing the fingers.

Requirement of sensors in robots used in industry, agriculture, medical field, transportation,

military, space and undersea exploration, human-robot interactions, robot control, robot
navigation, tele-operational robot
Robots, like humans, must gather extensive information about their environment in order to
function effectively. They must pick up an object and know it has been picked up. As the robot
arm moves through the 3-dimensional Cartesian space, it must avoid obstacles and approach
items to be handled at a controlled speed. Some objects are heavy, others are fragile, and others
are too hot to handle. These characteristics of objects and the environment must be recognized,
and fed to the computer that controls a robot’s movement. For example, to move the end-effector
of a robot, with or without a payload along a desired trajectory and to exert a desired force on an
object, the end-effector and sensors (normally located at the joints and at the end-effector) work
in coordination with the robot controller (a microprocessor, or a computer or a microcontroller).

SENSOR CLASSIFICATION
The major capabilities required by a robot are as follows: Simple Touch The presence or
absence of an object. Taction or Complex Touch - the presence of an object plus some
information on its size and shape. Simple Force Measured force along a single axis. Complex
Force Measured force along two or more axes. Proximity Noncontact detection of an object.
Simple Vision Detection of edges, holes, corners, and so on. Complex Vision Recognition of
shapes. Based on the type of signals a sensor or transducer receives and processes, it can be
classified as analog or digital. In analog sensors, with the variation of input there is a continuous
variation of output, whereas in case of digital sensors, the output is of digital or discrete nature.
For example, potentiometers, tacho-generators located at the joints and strain-gauge-based
sensors located at the end-effector of a robot fall in the category of analog sensors, whereas
encoders, located at the robot’s joints, are digital sensors.

SENSOR CLASSIFICATION
PROPRIOCEPTIVE OR INTERNAL SENSORS
Internal sensors, as the name suggests, are used to measure internal state of a robot, i.e., its
position, velocity, acceleration, etc., at a particular instant. Based on these information, control
command is decided by the controller. Depending on the quantities it measures, a sensor is
termed as the position, velocity, acceleration, or force sensor.
POSITION SENSORS: Position sensors measure the position of each joint, i.e., joint angle of a
robot. From these joint angles, one can find the end-effector configuration, namely, its position
and orientation, through forward kinematics.
What does the word encoder mean? The encoder is an electromechanical device that can measure
displacement. Encoders are normally digital displacement transducers, consisting of a
mechanical element and a sensing head, typically of optical type. The mechanical element can be
a disc (for rotary type encoders) or a ruler (for linear type encoders) with deposited or carved
patterns. The
sensing head includes a light source (LED) and a light sensor (photo detector) to read the
generated code (the encoder output).
The most widely used classification refers to the type of movement (linear or rotary). In both cases
they can be incremental, semi-absolute or absolute.
1. Encoder: The encoder is a digital optical device that converts motion into a sequence of
digital pulses. By counting a single bit or by decoding a set of bits, the pulses can be converted to
relative or absolute measurements. Thus, encoders are of incremental or absolute type. Further,
each type may be again linear and rotary.
a) Incremental Linear Encoder - As shown in Fig. below. It has a transparent glass scale
with opaque grating. The thickness of grating lines and the gap between them is made same,
which are in the range of microns. One side of the scale is provided with a light source and a
condenser lens. On the other side there are light-sensitive cells. The resistance of the cells
(photodiodes) decreases whenever a beam of light falls on them. Thus, a pulse is generated each
time a beam of light is intersected by the opaque line. This pulse is fed to the controller, which
updates a counter (a record of the distance traveled).

b) Absolute Linear Encoder - It is similar in principle as the incremental linear encoder.

The difference is that it gives absolute value of the distance covered at any time. Thus, the
chance of missing the pulses at high speeds is less. The output is digital in this case. The scale is
marked in a sequence of opaque and transparent strips, as shown in Fig. below.In the scale
shown, if the opaque block represents 1 (one) and the transparent block as 0 (zero) then the
leftmost column will show a binary number as 00000, i.e., a decimal value of 0, and the
rightmost column will show a binary number 11111, i.e., a decimal value of 61.
c) Incremental Rotary Encoder - It is similar to the linear incremental encoder with a
difference that the gratings are now on a circular disc, as in Fig. The common value of the width
of transparent spaces is 20 microns. There are two sets of grating lines on two different circles
which detect direction of rotation, and one can also enhance the accuracy of the sensor. There is
another circle, which contains only one grating mark. It is used for measurement of full circles.

How can the disc angle rotation be measured? With this encoder, the displacement is obtained
by counting the number of times that transitions occur between logical values "0" and "1". This
allows the transformation of physical quantities by converting the angular displacement
variations into electrical type signal output that is translated into logical values by suitable
electronics. The counting of the number of transitions that occur in the (reflective / opaque and
nonreflective / transparent) disc sectors is related to the concept of resolution. The resolution
may be defined as the smallest change in a quantity under measurement that causes a noticeable
change in the corresponding outcome.
In this case, the resolution of the disc corresponds to its minimum angular variation that causes
a transition at the logical output level. As there are nine 0 to 1 transitions in a complete rotation
of the disk in Figure 3, its resolution is: 360° / 9 = 40°. So the 40° value matches the period of
the blue wave shown in fig. below.
How can we detect the direction of disc rotation? This solution with only a sensing head is not
able to identify the direction of disc rotation. To solve this problem another optical sensing head
is used, with its output signal offset from the first by 90°; in other words, the optical sensing
head
signals are in quadrature. This layout produces two square waves in quadrature, corresponding
each to one sensing head (channels A and B), as shown in Figure.
With each change of state from 00 to 01, etc., the new combination gives rise to another step in
the counting operation. Consequently the resolution is increased 4 times, as given by: 360º / (9 x
4) = 10°.

d) Absolute Rotary Encoder: Similar to the absolute linear encoder, the circular disk is
divided into a number of circular strips and each strip has definite arc segments, as shown in Fig.
This sensor directly gives the digital output (absolute). The encoder is directly mounted on the
motor shaft or with some gearing to enhance the accuracy of measurement. To avoid noise in this
encoder, a gray scale is sometimes used. A Gray code, unlike binary codes, allows only one of
the binary bits in a code sequence to change between radial lines. It prevents confusing changes
in the binary output of the absolute encoder when the encoder oscillates between points. A
sample Gray code is given in Table for some numbers. The basic arrangement of the rotary
encoder is as shown below.
Numerical qn 1:

2. POTENTIOMETERS
A potentiometer, is a variable resistance device that expresses linear or angular displacements in
terms of voltage. It consists of a wiper that makes contact with a resistive element, and as this
point of contact moves, the resistance between the wiper and end leads of the device changes in
proportion to the displacement, x and Ɵ for linear and angular potentiometers, respectively.

3. LVDTs
The Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) is one of the most used displacement
transducers, especially when high accuracy is needed. It generates an ac signal whose magnitude
is related to the displacement of a moving core, as shown in Fig. 4.4.
The basic concept is that of a ferrous core moving in a magnetic field, the field being produced
in a manner similar to that of a standard transformer.
There is a central core surrounded by two identical secondary coils and a primarycoil, as shown
in Fig.. As the core changes position with respect to the coils, it changes the magnetic field, and
hence the voltage amplitude in the secondary coil changes as a linear function of the core
displacement over a considerable segment.
A Rotary Variable Differential Transformer (RVDT) operates under the same principle as the
LVDT. It is available with a range of approximately ±40°.

VELOCITY SENSORS
There are two ways of determining velocity, one method is to measure by taking consecutive
position measurements at known time intervals and computing the time rate of change of the
position values or directly finding it based on different principles.

a) All Position Sensors(optical encoders): All positional sensors when used with certain
time bounds can give velocity, e.g., the number of pulses given by an incremental position
encoder divided by the time consumed in doing so. But this scheme puts some computational
load on the controller which may be busy in some other computations.

b) Tachometer: These sensors can directly find the velocity at any instant of time, and
without much of computational load. This measures the speed of rotation of an element. There
are various types of tachometers in use but a simpler design is based on the Fleming’s rule,
which states ‘the voltage produced is proportional to the rate of flux linkage.’ Here, a conductor
(basically a coil) is attached to the rotating element which rotates in a magnetic field (stator). As
the speed of the shaft increases, the voltage produced at the coil terminals also increases. In the
Fig. shown, a magnet is put on the rotating shaft and a coil on the stator. The voltage produced is
proportional to the speed of rotation of the shaft. This information is digitized using an
analog-to-digital converter and passed on to the computer.
c) Hall-effect Sensor: Another velocity-measuring device is the Hall-effect sensor. If a flat
piece of conductor material, called Hall chip, is attached to a potential difference on its two
opposite faces, as indicated in Fig. then the voltage across the perpendicular faces is zero. But if
a magnetic field is imposed at right angles to the conductor, the voltage is generated on the two
other perpendicular faces. Higher the field value, higher the voltage level. If we provide a ring
magnet, the voltage produced is proportional to the speed of rotation of the magnet.

The output voltage, called the Hall voltage, (VH) of the basic Hall element is directly
proportional to the strength of the magnetic field passing through the semiconductor material
(output 𝖺 H). This output voltage can be quite small, only a few microvolts even when subjected
to strong magnetic fields so most commercially available Hall effect devices are manufactured
with built-in DC amplifiers, logic switching circuits and voltage regulators to improve the
sensors sensitivity, hysteresis and output voltage. This also allows the Hall-effect sensor to
operate over a wider range of power supplies and magnetic field conditions.

The output of a hall-effect sensor can be analog or digital. They are used as limit switches in 3D
printers and CNC machines as well as industrial automation systems. It can be used for
measuring wheel speed or RPM.

ACCELEROMETERS

Note: Finding acceleration from force involves integration which suppresses any noise in the force signal.
However, if the velocity signal is used to determine acceleration, differentiation has to be performed
which amplifies the noise in the velocity signal. Hence, the latter is never advisable.
An efficient way to compute the acceleration is to measure the force which is the result of mass
times acceleration. Forces are measured, for example, using strain gauges for which the formula
is

where, F is force, ΔR is the change in resistance of the strain gauge, A is the cross sectional
area of the member on which the force being applied, E is the elastic modulus of the strain-gauge
material, R is the original resistance of the gauge, and G is gauge factor of the strain gauge.
Gauge factor measures the sensitivity of the strain gauge.

Where ε is strain
Then, the acceleration ‘a’ is the force divided by mass of the accelerating object m, i.e.,

Numerical question 2:

FORCE SENSORS

a) Strain-gauge Based: The principle of this type of sensors is that the elongation of a
conductor increases its resistance. Typical resistances for strain gauges are 50–100 ohms. The
increase in resistance is due to
- Increase in the length of the conductor; and
- Decrease in the cross-section area of the conductor.

Strain gauges are made of electrical conductors, usually wire or foil, etched on a base material.
They are glued on the surfaces where strains are to be measured, e.g., R1 and R2 of Fig. (a). The
strains cause changes in the resistances of the strain gauges, which are measured by attaching
them to the Wheatstone bridge circuit as one of the four resistances, R1 . . . R4 of Fig. (b).

It is a cheap and accurate method of measuring strain. But care should be taken for the
temperature changes. In order to enhance the output voltage and cancel away the resistance
changes due to the change in temperature, two strain gauges are used, as shown in Fig. 4.9(a), to
measure the force at the end of the cantilever beam.
What is Gauge Factor?

b) Piezoelectric Based: A piezoelectric material exhibits a phenomenon known as the

piezoelectric effect. This effect states that when asymmetrical, elastic crystals are deformed by a
force, an electrical potential will be developed within the distorted crystal lattice, as illustrated in
Fig. This effect is reversible. That is, if a potential is applied between the surfaces of the crystal,
it will change its physical dimensions. The magnitude and polarity of the induced charges are
proportional to the magnitude and direction of the applied force. The piezoelectric materials are
quartz, tourmaline, Rochelle salt, and others. The range of forces that can be measured using
piezoelectric sensors are from 1 to 20 kN and at a ratio of 2 × 105. These sensors can be used to
measure an instantaneous change in force (dynamic forces).

Numerical qn 3:

11
HEADING SENSORS
Heading sensors can be proprioceptive (gyroscope, acceleration) or exteroceptive (compass,
inclinometer). Used to determine the robots orientation and inclination. Allow, together with an
appropriate velocity information, to integrate the movement to a position estimate.
1. Compass Sensor

The invention of the compass dates back to the 2nd century. It was used by the Chinese for
divination and alignment of building materials during construction. It was in the 11th century
that people started using Compass for finding directions during navigation.

Compass sensor is the device whose function is to give the right directions with respect to the
North and South magnetic poles of the earth. The magnetized needle present on a compass
always points towards the geometric North of Earth. This device makes use of principles of
magnetism for operation.
Compass Sensor in Andriod

To get the functionality of Compass on Android, the device must have a magnetometer. Compass
Sensor app. installed on the device make use of data provided by the magnetometer to calculate
orientation and direction and display a digital compass on the screen. By this, the phone can
detect North and auto-rotate Google map according to our physical direction.

As this Sensor depends on the information provided by a magnetometer, to get a Compass

Sensor without Magnetic Sensor is not possible. In such a situation, one can get the information
about the direction using Google Maps as those operate using GPS and it doesn’t require a
magnetic sensor.

There are many apps available for digital Compass Sensor for Android. For hardware
installation, many digital Magnetometers are available in the market in the form of small IC’s.
These IC’s are easy to interface with microcontrollers. These Sensors have also found their
application in robotics.
Digital Compass Sensor is actually a magnetometer that can measure the Earth’s magnetic field.
With the use of ‘Hall Effect’ and by calculating the ultralow frequency signals coming from the
North or South direction, this sensor can calculate the orientation and direction.
Working Principle

Digital Compass Sensor that is used in the smartphone is based on the magnetometer sensor.

The resistance of the magnetic sensor present in magnetometer changes in proportional to the
magnetic field present in a particular direction. The magnetometer measures the magnetic field
strength and orientation.
This information from magnetometer is stored by the CPU as digital data. This Sensor always
points towards the Geometric North. The Compass found in electric devices is a solid-state
sensor. Usually, two or three magnetic sensors are present on the device from which
the microprocessor can read data and detects the orientation of the device.

2. Gyroscopic sensors
Gyroscopic sensors are used for measuring angular orientations and angular speeds in a variety
of applications including aircraft, ships, vehicles, robots, missiles, radar systems, machinery,
camera stabilization, and various other mechanical devices.
Gyro sensors, also known as angular rate sensors or angular velocity sensors, are devices that
sense angular velocity.

In simple terms, angular velocity is the change in rotational angle per unit of time. Angular
velocity is generally expressed in deg/s (degrees per second).
In recent years vibration gyro sensors have found their way into camera-shake detection systems
for compact video and still cameras, motion sensing for video games, and vehicle electronic
stability control (anti-skid) systems, among other things.
Vibration gyro sensor manufacturers are using a variety of materials and structures in an effort to
devise compact, high-accuracy gyro sensors that have good characteristics, including:
• scale factor
• temperature-frequency coefficient
• compact size
• shock resistance
• stability
• noise characteristics
Piezo electric transducer (crystal and ceramic) and silicon transducers are used for vibration
measurement.
Vibration gyro sensors sense angular velocity from the Coriolis force applied to a vibrating object.
Here, we explain how this works, using as an example Epson 's double-T structure crystal element.
 3. IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit)
The term IMU stands for “Inertial Measurement Unit When installed in a device, these tools can
capture data about the device’s movement. IMUs contain sensors such as
accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers.
IMUs are sensing devices that incorporate at least two (and often three) types of sensors to
measure a host device’s location in three-dimensional space. They are a valuable supplement to
GPS or other navigational technologies. Additionally, they are present in a wide variety of
consumer electronics that contain motion sensors (such as smartphones).

How Does an IMU Work?

IMUs can measure a variety of factors, including speed, direction, acceleration, specific force,
angular rate, and (in the presence of a magnetometer), magnetic fields surrounding the device.

Each tool in an IMU is used to capture different data types:

- Accelerometer: measures velocity and acceleration
- Gyroscope: measures rotation and rotational rate
- Magnetometer: establishes cardinal direction (directional heading)

IMUs combine input from several different sensor types in order to accurately output movement.

Applications: IMUs used in navigational devices or as components of navigational equipment,

such as:
- Manned and unmanned aircraft. A connected (or onboard) computer can use an IMU’s
measurements to calculate altitude and relative position to a reference frame, making them
exceedingly useful in aircraft applications.

- IMUs serve as a supplement to GPS positioning systems, allowing the navigational

device to continue with an estimated position and heading if it loses satellite connection.

Beyond their obvious applications in navigation, you can apply an IMU in nearly any field
where motion detection comes into play:

- Most smartphones, tablets and fitness tracking devices contain a low-cost IMU

- IMUs are involved in sports training applications that need to measure, for example, the
precise angle and force of a swing in golf or baseball.

- IMUs drive the self-balancing systems of personal transportation devices like Segways
and hover boards.

The principal disadvantage of an IMU is that they are prone to error that accumulates over time,
also known as “drift.” Because the device is always measuring changes relative to itself (not
triangulating against an absolute or known outside device), the IMU constantly rounds off small
fractions in its calculations, which accumulate over time. Left uncorrected, these tiny
imprecisions can add up to significant errors. Still, when coupled with a corrective technology or
a human operator, IMUs can be a beneficial supplement to other sensors.

4. GPS positioning systems (GPS)

World wide systems- NAVSTAR, GLONASS, Galileo & Compass
● The Global Positioning System (GPS) is also called NAVSTAR GPS ( Navigational
System with Time and Ranging )operated by United States Government.
● The GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS) operated by the Russian
Government.
● The Galileo Navigation Satellite System to be operated by European Union.
● The Compass Navigation Satellite System to be operated by Chinese Government.
● Bei-Dou – Chinese system (above country’s geostationary orbit, hence not a global
system)
● IRNSS –Indian system (above country’s geostationary orbit, hence not a global system)

GPS units are made to communicate with GPS satellites (which have a much better view
of the Earth) to find out exactly where they are on the global scale of things. The GPS
Operational constellation consists of 24 satellites that orbit the Earth in very precise
orbits twice a day. GPS satellites emit continuous navigation signals. Each GPS satellite
transmits
 data(complicated digital code-sequence of 1s and 0s) that indicates its location and the
current time. All GPS satellites synchronize operations so that these repeating signals are
transmitted at the same instant.

The GPS receiver compares the time a signal was transmitted by a satellite with the time it
was received. The time difference tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite is.
Measurement of Travel time of the signals from a constellation of GPS Satellites orbiting the
earth for enabling the position in the earth. The GPS satellites are in orbits such that one can be
able to receive signals from at least four satellites to enable for the determination of latitude,
longitude, altitude and time.

Using formula velocity x time= Distance is used for calculating the distance from satellite.

A fourth satellite narrows it from 2 possible points to 1 point.

Components of GPS
● Space segment
● Control Segment
● User segment
Space segment : 24 GPS space vehicles(SVs • Satellites orbit the earth in 12 hrs. • 6 orbital
planes inclined at 55 degrees with the equator.

Control segment: The control segment comprises of 5 stations.

• They measure the distances of the overhead satellites every 1.5 seconds and send the
corrected data to Master control.
• Here the satellite orbit, clock performance and health of the satellite are
determined and determines whether repositioning is required.

The tasks of Control Segment is as follows:

• To monitor and control the satellite system continuously
• To predict the satellite ephemerides and the behaviour of satellite clocks.
• To update periodically the navigation message for each satellite

Receiver segment
It consists of receivers that decode the signals from the satellites.
• The receiver performs following tasks:
– Selecting one or more satellites
– Acquiring GPS signals
– Measuring and tracking
– Recovering navigation data

5. Differential GPS (DGPS)

Differential GPS( DGPS) is a system in which differences between observed and computed co-
ordinates ranges( known as differential corrections) at a particular known point are transmitted to
users(GPS receivers at other points) to upgrade the accuracy of the users receivers position.

The basic strategy for GPS use, called pseudorange generally performs at a resolution of 15m.
An extension of this method is differential GPS, which makes use of a second receiver that is
static and at a known exact position. A number of errors can be corrected using this reference,
and so resolution improves to the order of 1m or less. A disadvantage of this technique is that the
stationary receiver must be installed, its location must be measured very carefully and of course
the moving robot must be within kilometers of this static unit in order to benefit from the DGPS
technique.

Differential positioning user finds the point position derived from the satellite signals and applies
correction to that position. These corrections, difference of the determined position and the
known position are generated by a Reference Receiver, whose position is known and is fed to the
instrument and are used by the second Receiver to correct its internally generated position. This
is known as Differential GPS positioning.
Differential correction is a technique that greatly increases the accuracy of the collected
DGPS data. It involves using a receiver at a known location - the "base station“- and
comparing that data with DGPS positions collected from unknown locations with "roving
receivers."

A final consideration for mobile robot applications is bandwidth. GPS will generally offer
no better than 200 - 300ms latency, and so one can expect no better than 5Hz GPS updates.

Dual-Frequency DGPS receivers receive signals from the satellites on two frequencies
simultaneously. Receiving GPS signals on two frequencies simultaneously allows the receiver to
determine very precise positions.

BEACONS

What is Beacon and how it works?

A Beacon is a transmitter at a known location, which continuous or periodic signal with limited
information content. A radio technology can be used to identify location and most commonly
used RF technologies are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and RF ID.

Beacons indicate their presence with periodic signal so that the enabled device like mobile
handset can locate them. Each beacon is given a unique identifier. When the mobile device
detects the beacon signal, it reads the beacon’s Unique identifier, calculates the distance to the
beacon and,
based on this data ( coupon, video, form, URL or other forms of information), triggers an action

in a beacon compatible mobile app.

Most of the beacons today uses BLE technology, because of its low power consumption and
implementation costs. The technology only allows for small amounts of data transmission, which
is why most beacons only transmits their IDs. Beacon IDs consists of a maximum of three
values:

1. A universally unique identifier (UUID)

2. A major value (optional)
3. A minor value (optional)

Besides these three values, every beacon also transmits information about its signal power. This
information is used by the app to calculate the distance from the source.

1. RF Beacons

Radio beacons, also called radio frequency or or RF beacons, are low power radio
transmitters set up at a given location and operating at a constant frequency. They generally
transmit a call identifier plus their location. In some cases, they send out telemetry or weather
information as well. RF beacons are generally omni-directional, radiating a particular radio
signal like a lighthouse.

What Are Radio Beacons Used for?

Beacons may be used to determine band conditions. You know the strength of the signal put out
by the RF beacon and the frequency it uses. The strength of the signal received allows you to
determine how successful you’ll be if you send out your own signal.

The International Amateur Radio Union or IARU operates a number of beacons for ham radio
operators.

RF beacons can be used to calibrate and test antennas and RF equipment. For example, you
could use the beacon to verify that your antenna is receiving the frequency range you expect it to
receive or aimed in the right direction.
Radio beacons can be used to determine one’s general location. For example, radio beacons are
used by ships, aircraft, and vehicles to determine their location based on the direction and
distance to the beacon. In these cases, the beacon’s location is a known, fixed point, and the
receiver can determine their location relative to it based on signal strength and direction.

Non-directional beacons are used to identify the locations of air strips. This allows pilots who are
flying using instrumentation alone to find runways.

Why Are Radio Beacons Still Used When We Have GPS and Other Alternatives?

Radio beacons remain useful tools for amateur radio operators. They are being phased out in
aviation. They may continue to be used as a backup to GPS, because they’ll continue to operate
even when GPS is unavailable. Radio beacons used by the maritime industry are being replaced
with transmitters for differential GPS.

2. Ultrasonic Beacons

Ultrasonic beacons are sounds with frequencies from 18 kHz to 20 kHz. Humans can’t hear it,
but most mobile devices’ microphones can easily detect the ultrasonic beacons. When emitting
from retail stores or embedded to advertisements and even websites, these inaudible sounds are
picked up by microphones of mobile devices. This doesn’t happen by default, though. A user has
to grant permission for an app to access the microphone in the first place. These ultrasonic
beacons are the core of the ultrasonic cross-device tracking technology, letting marketers track
consumers and build detailed profiles based on data collected. The websites you browse,
advertisements you see, stores you visit and products you prefer – all this information can be
gathered without our notice.

Ultrasonic beacons can be used for Local Positioning System for indoor mobile robots.
Positioning of a receiving node is found based on ultrasonic Time of Arrival ranging technology.
To accurately determine the positioning, there must be at least four or five transmitting nodes.
The working radius will not be less than 5 meters when the height is larger than 3 meters.

ELECTRONIC SKIN
The skin is one of the main organs of the human body and as such it implements many different
and relevant functions, e.g. protection of the inner body organs, detection of cutaneous stimuli,
etc. Due to its complexity, the development of artificial, or better, electronic skin (e-skin) is a
very challenging goal which involves many different and complementary research areas. The
possible application areas include humanoids and industrial robotics, artificial prosthetics,
biomedical instrumentation, cyber physical systems, for naming a few. Many research groups are
addressing the development of e-skin and the research scenario is exciting and continuously
evolving. Due to its very peculiar features, the development of electronic skin can be effectively
tackled using a holistic approach. The concept of electronic skin is as shown.
 Fig. piezoelectric polymer films with cover and interface electronics
The first step in e-skin development is to identify the adequate functional material to enable
certain sensing capabilities. Piezoelectric polymer films of Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) is a
material that meets the target requirements of mechanical flexibility, high sensitivity,
detectability of dynamic touch (1Hz-1kHz frequency range) and robustness.
In the e-skin easiest concept, a PVDF circular taxel is provided of electrodes for charge
collection and it is glued to a rigid substrate and covered by a protective
layer. Charge, generated by the PVDF transducer as a result of the cover layer transmission of
external mechanical stimuli, can be directly converted to voltage by means of charge amplifier-
based electronics, whose schematics is shown above. The same approach illustrated above can
been extended to fabricate larger piezoelectric polymer sensor arrays.
MICRO CANTILEVERS
A cantilever is a type of beam constrained at one end with the other end extending freely
outwards. In microapplications, some cantilevers are rigid allowing for a controlled movement.
Other cantilevers are more flexible allowing for variable degrees of movements. Flexible
microcantilevers are used in applications where an external force or intrinsic stress causes the
cantilever to flex or bend (e.g. atomic force microscopes, diagnostic transducers, chemical sensor
arrays). More rigid cantilevers are used as needles, probes, or transport mechanisms for probes or
transducers.
Microcantilevers are commonly used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Such systems
include the following applications:
• Atomic force microscopes
• Chemical sensor arrays
• Read/write storage devices
• Olfactory systems (sensing smell)
• Environmental Monitoring
• RF switches
Microcantilever Modes of Operation
Several of these MEMS applications operate the cantilever in either a static mode or operation or
a dynamic mode of operation.
• The static mode is when the cantilever is in a static state (stationary). Any displacement
of the cantilever due to a load or intrinsic stress generated on or within the cantilever is
measured.
• The dynamic mode is when the cantilever is externally actuated causing the cantilever to
oscillate at its natural resonant frequency. Any change in the load or mass of the cantilever
results in a change in this frequency. The change in frequency is measured.

One of the primary applications of microcantilevers is in the environmental and biomedical

fields. Chemical sensors incorporate microcantilevers as transducers. Chemical sensors detect,
analyze, and measure specific particles (molecules or atoms) within gas and liquid environments.
These particles are commonly referred to as the target material or analytes.
In order to detect a specific analyte, the microcantilever transducer is fabricated with a probe
coating(see figure) on one surface for static operation or both surfaces for dynamic operation.
The probe coating is a chemically sensitive layer that provides specificity for molecular
recognition. As the analytes are adsorbed by the probe coating, the transducer experiences
surface stress or an overall change in mass which results in cantilever displacement (static) or a
change in cantilever oscillations (dynamic).

Measuring Displacement in the Static Mode : As a transducer, the bending of the cantilever is
measured primarily in one of two ways:
• Change in Angular Deflection (Δ angular deflection) – Reflective material is embedded
as a layer onto the surface of the cantilever. A laser beam is directed to and reflected from the
cantilever's surface creating a reference angle of deflection (see figure). As the cantilever bends
the change in the angular deflection is measured. The measuring device is normally a position
sensitive light detector.
• Change in resistance (ΔR) - Piezoresistive material is embedded as a structured layer
within the cantilever. The piezoresistive layer is normally a doped silicon layer. As the cantilever
bends, a change in resistance is measured in the piezoresistive layer. The change in resistance is
proportional to the amount of bend (or stress).

Measuring displacement in static mode

Cantilever Transducers – Dynamic Mode: Chemical sensors also use the dynamic mode of
operation to detect and measure specific target materials. Just like the static mode operation,
dynamic sensors can consist of one microcantilever transducer or an array of transducers. In the
dynamic mode the amount of target material is measured by monitoring a change in the
microcantilever's natural resonant frequency. When a dynamic microcantilever is initially excited
by an external actuation such as piezoelectric, magnetic, or electrostatic actuation, it begins to
oscillate. The frequency of oscillation is usually at or near the cantilever's natural frequency (or
resonant frequency). Any change in the physical characteristics of the cantilever - such as its
material, geometry or mass - changes its natural frequency.