In addition to the sensors identified in Part 1 of this blog, there are several others required for different types of robots. Chemical, light and color sensors enable the robot to evaluate, adjust and detect problems with its environment. For humanoid robots that can walk, run or even dance (like Dobi, made by Chinese company […]
Proximity
What types of sensors are used in robots? Part 1 of 2
Fully functional human robots, such as those being developed by Boston Dynamics, need numerous sensors to simulate a variety of human and beyond human capabilities. For the human part, the sensors provide the ability to see, hear, touch and move. In general, industrial robots employ sensors for a variety of activities. Some sensors provide environmental […]
What position is this thing in?
Associated questions could include: Has it moved? In what type of motion? How close is it? While accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers provide inertial measurement units (IMUs) for position sensing in smart phones and other portable products, many other sensing technologies have been used to determine position, long before the smart phone. In industrial applications, more […]
Extra-Short M12 Inductive Proximity Sensors
Carlo Gavazzi is pleased to announce an addition to the popular ICB Series family of inductive proximity sensors, with the launch of the ICB12S Extra-Short Inductive Proximity Sensors. With a thread length of only 23mm, and housing lengths as short as 25mm, these ultra-compact M12 sensors are an ideal solution where space is limited and […]
Measuring Rotor-Stator Gap
Designed as a maintenance tool for measuring rotor-stator gap in large scale power generation applications, the GMS-750RS rotor-stator gap measuring system from the Measuring Division of Kaman Precision Products, Inc., uses the company’s proven eddy current sensor technology. Incorporated into an easy to calibrate turnkey instrument, the sensing tool provides accurate and repeatable gap measurements […]
Demonstrating Sonar on a Chip
At the MEMS & Sensors Group Executive Conference in Scottsdale, AZ, Dave Horsley, Co-Founder and CTO at Chirp Microsystems demonstrates the capabilities of his company’s sonar on a chip (an ultrasound transceiver and microprocessor in a single 8-pin LGA package). The chip uses time of flight measurements for accurately detecting gesture recognition and proximity while […]
AutomationDirect Offers Extended and Triple-Distance Proximity Sensors
AutomationDirect now offers the Contrinex DW-series of extended and triple-distance proximity sensors in 3mm to 30mm cylindrical and 20mm rectangular styles. With 10 to 30 VDC operating voltage and sensing distances ranging from 1mm to 40mm, cylindrical sensors are available in shielded and unshielded models with nickel silver, nickel silver/chrome, chrome plated brass, or stainless […]
Smaller Light Sensors, Better Performance
With its TMD2620 proximity sensor and TMD2725 ambient light sensor (ALS) modules, ams AG reduces the LED emitter-to-sensor gap to just 1.0 mm while eliminating the effect of optical cross talk. The TMD2620 and TMD2725 enable aperture size as small as 1.4 and 2.0mm respectively. This means that android smartphone manufacturers can reduce the sensor […]
AutomationDirect Offers Additional Magnetic Proximity Sensors
AutomationDirect’s M-series cylindrical magnetic DC proximity sensors are now available in 8mm, 12mm, and 18mm sizes. With 10 models available, the magnetic sensors feature stainless steel shielded housings, are offered as NPN or PNP models with normally-open or normally-closed outputs, and are available with standard sensing distances of 0 to 70mm. M-series sensors are IP65/IP67 […]
Inductive Proximity Sensor Boasts Ease of Use
Making a sensor easy to replace in industrial applications should get the attention of many users. For sensing proximity, SICK’s IQG inductive proximity sensor targets a wide variety of applications. For easy replacement aspect #1, the 40 x 40-mm sensor can fit into most brackets. For easy replacement aspect #2, the sensor’s tight manufacturing tolerances […]