A Tutorial on Robotics

Part III : Control System & Sensors

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Basic Parts Of Our Mobile Robot

Locomotion system Power supply system Actuators Sensory devices for feedback Sensor data processing unit Control system

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Open Loop Control System

O/P Desired Action Controller Actuator

There is no error correction. No way to check if the actuator was able to take the desired action Simple system to design, not very reliable Requires regular calibration of the system

Closed Loop Control System

O/P Desired Action Controller Actuator

Feedback

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Example : An Air conditioner

Room Temp

Desired Temp.

Controller

Cooling Device

Temperature Sensor

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Proportional Control
New Input = Previous Input + K (Desired Output - Actual Output)

Correction is made depending on the magnitude of error If desired output > actual output
new input > previous input

Else
new input < previous input

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Sensors
Analogous to human sensory organs
Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin

Sensors help the robot knowing its surroundings better Improves its actions and decision making ability Provides feedback control

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LDR - Light Dependent Resistor

Made of cadmium sulphide Resistance between two terminals vary depending on the intensity of light Can be used to differentiate contrast colours

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Thermistor
Manufactured from the oxides of the transition metals manganese, cobalt, copper and nickel Resistor depends on temperature

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IR Photo Diode
Detects presence of Infra Red radiations Used for obstacle proximity sensing IR Data Communication

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Sensor Interfacing
VCC VCC R2 100R R5 10K 3 U3A 5 IR LED D3 Photo Diode D4 R3 V4 LM339 12 + R4 2K2 U3A 5 Digital O/P OUT 2 R3 V4 LM339 12 + V+ V+ 3 R5 100K R4 2K2

Digital O/P OUT 2

IR Proximity Detector
VCC

Bump Detector
VCC

R6 5K Digital O/P R6 5K Digital O/P

8 - Bit ADC
R2 1k LDR Thermistor R2 1k

8 - Bit ADC

Light Intensity Detector

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Temperature Detector

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Shaft Encoder

Shaft Encoders are used to measure the rotation of motor shaft The holes / sectors are counted

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Shaft Encoder Cont

Pulses from the photo diode are counted Quadrature Encoders are used to determine direction of rotation as well

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An Example - Line Follower

A line follower is a robot capable of tracking a line drawn on a surface Optical sensors capture the line position at the front end of the robot The robot is steered to keep it always over the line

Block Layout of Line Follower

Optical Sensor Array

Steering Controller

Left Motor

Right Motor

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Controller Layout Diagram

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Optical Reflectors

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Line Following Algorithm

Step1: All the sensors are assigned some weight such as Sensor 1 = a1 = 3 Sensor 2 = a2 = 2 Sensor 3 = a3 = 1 Sensor 4 = a4 = -1 Sensor 5 = a5 = -2 Sensor 6 = a6 = -3 Step4: Step2: Vcm is fixed, predetermined Let b1 b6 denote the state of each cm is proportional to Line position sensor. 0 for white line and 1 for Step5: black line Vl = Vcm + (cm / a) Step3: Vr = Vcm (cm / a) Line Position = aibi a : Separation between left/right wheels
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