CHAPTER 2

SENSORS AND ACTUATORS

OUTLINE

■ Sensors categories
■ sensor and actuator theory of operation
■ sensor and actuator in robotic application
SENSORS
What is a Sensor?
■ A sensor is a device that measures physical input from its
environment and converts it into data that can be interpreted by either
a human or a machine.
■ Most sensors are electronic (the data is converted into electronic
data), but some are more simple, such as a glass thermometer, which
presents visual data.
■ People use sensors to measure temperature, gauge distance, detect
smoke, regulate pressure and a myriad of other uses.
 How does the sensors work?

Sensor is a module or chip that observes the changes happening in the physical world and sends the
feedback to the microcontroller or microprocessor. Excitation (Power supply) and Grounding must be provided
to the sensor for the proper working.
 Classification of Sensors
■ Microcontroller accepts two types of inputs depending up on the type
of sensor
– Analog sensor
– Digital sensor

Analog sensor Digital sensor

The output voltage may be in the range of 0 to Produce discrete values (0 and 1’s). Discrete
5V. Logic High is treated as “1” (3.5 to 5V) and Logic values often called digital (binary) signals in digital
Low is indicated by “0” (0 to 3.5 V). communication.
What are Analog Sensors?
■ Analog sensors are the devices that produce analog output in
correspondence to the quantity being calculated.
■ These sensors also observe the change in external factors such
as light intensity, speed of the wind, and solar radiation, and
others.
■ And the output ranges between 0V to 5V.
■ Here, Logic 1 corresponds to the voltage level of 3.5V to 5V and
Logic 0 corresponds to the voltage level of 0V to 3.5V.
Types of Analog Sensors
■ Analog sensors are classified as many types and they
are of:
– Accelerometers
– Light sensors
– Sound sensors
– Pressure sensors
– Analog temperature sensors
Applications of Analog Sensors
■ As there are various classifications in analog
sensors, there is an extensive range of applications
in many industries of these devices. Few of the
applications are:
– Parking sensors
– Object alignments
– Mobile phones
– Industrial fabrications
– Automobiles
– Robotics
What are Digital Sensors?
■ Digital sensors are the kind of electrochemical
or electrical sensors where the information is converted to
digital form and then transmitted.
■ The output of a digital sensor is the distinct digital signal of the
quantity which is being measured.
■ And the measured quantities might be of conductivity, pH
value, redox potentials, and many others.
■ The output is in the form of 1’s and 0’s where ‘1’ represents
ON condition and ‘0’ represents OFF condition.
Types of Digital Sensors

■ Digital sensors are also classified as many types and few of those
to be described as follows:
– Digital accelerometers
– Digital temperature sensor
Application of Digital Sensors
■ Implemented in mobile phones and other internet equipment’s
■ Used in-game controllers and computer components
■ Used in the health care industry
■ Also implemented in personal navigation equipment
Passive and Active Sensor
A Passive Sensor requires an external source of power to operate while an
Active Sensor does not.
Passive Sensor Example
A Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) is a Passive Sensor. It is a device
that’s resistance will change with a change in temperature. To take advantage
of this change in resistance, an external supply, or an excitation circuit is
required to produce a change in voltage. Another example of a Passive sensor is
a Strain Gauge.
Active Sensor Example
As a thermocouple is exposed to an increase in temperature, it will develop an
increasing voltage across it. Another example of an Active sensor is a
piezoelectric sensor.
ACTUATOR
■ An Actuator is a device that makes something move or operate.
■ An Actuator can move something in a straight line, referred to
as linear, or in a circular motion, referred to as rotary.
■ An Actuator receives a source of energy and uses it to move
something. In other words, it converts the source of energy into
physical-mechanical motion.
■ Typical actuators include:
– Pneumatic Control Valve
– Electric Motor (DC Motor, Stepper Motor, Servo Motor)
– Hydraulic Motor
Sensor Theory of Operation

■ Analog sensor – potentiometer or light sensor or temperature

sensor
■ Digital sensor – tactile or distance sensor or motion sensor
■ Orientation or velocity sensor – compass or gyroscope or
accelerometer or IMU sensor
Analog Sensor - Light Sensors
■ These are the kind of photoelectric devices where the detected light energy is
converted to that of electrical energy which means that photons are
converted as electrons.
■ Light sensors are mostly helpful to find out and react for various light levels
such as in machines, switches, and other appliances. These are further
classified depending on the collected current or hold voltage based on the
levels of light.
■ Mostly, light sensors are implemented for robotic intelligence and motion
lights. Even these devices hold the ability to detect light rays not visible for
humans such as UV rays, infrared, and X-rays.
The types of light sensors are:
■ Photovoltaic – These are also termed as solar cells. These sensors act in
response to light levels either by generating voltage or current and stored in
silicon cells for further usage. These are minimal and produce only minimal
wattages and for high currents, these will be available as panels.
■ Light-dependent – This type of light sensor is mainly utilized for gauging
purposes and reacting for light levels. They operate as automatic switches for
various devices. These devices come under the classification of photoresistors
as the reason their resistance value enhances as the light levels go up.
■ Photo Diode – Devices such as remote controls, cameras, and video recorders
utilize photodiodes to identify light levels. This device acts in response to
various infrared levels and performs as switches. In general, even for minimal
light changes, these devices deliver minimal current.
■ Proximity – In correspondence to the infrared light changes, proximity sensors
detect either the closeness of another item or detects motion. These are
helpful in robotic machines to pass through obstacles and keep away from
object bumpings.
Application in Robotic:
Light Dependent Resistor (LDR)
■ The LDR/IR Robot is designed to seek out light and avoid obstacles. The robot uses
the Light Dependent Resistor to seek out light and the Infrared Sensor to detect and
avoid objects in its path.
Digital Sensor – Distance Sensor
■ it is sensors used for determining the proximity of an object without any
physical contact involved.
■ Commonly associated with ultrasonic sensors, it functions by outputting a
signal (depending on technology; ultrasonic waves, IR, LED, etc.) and
measuring the change when the signal returns.
■ Measurement of change can be in the form of:
– The time it takes for a signal to return
– The intensity of a returned signal
■ There are many types; ultrasonic, IR proximity, laser distance, etc.
The types of distance sensors are:
■ Ultrasonic Sensor, also known as the Sonar sensor, it detects the
distance to objects by emitting high-frequency ultrasonic waves.
■ IR distance sensors, in short for infrared. It does distance or proximity
sensing through emitting IR beam and calculating angle of
reflection.IR sensors come with two lenses: An IR LED emitter lens
that emits a light beam & A position-sensible photodetector (PSD)
where the reflected beam will fall onto
■ LiDAR, in short for Light Detection and Ranging, can be considered as
a laser distance sensor. It measures the range of targets through light
waves from a laser instead of radio or sound waves.
■ LED time-of-flight sensors. Most commonly associated with
the VL53L0X, it’s part of the broader spectrum of LIDAR, that uses
time-of-flight technology in measuring distances.
Application in Robotic:
Ultrasonic Sensor
Working principle of an ultrasonic sensor

■ The ultrasonic sensor emits high-frequency sound waves towards the target object
■ Target object picks up the sound waves
■ Sound waves are then bounced off and reflected back towards the ultrasonic sensor
■ The time it took for the sound wave to return is used as the measurement of the distance between
■ In robotics, the ultrasonic sensors are used in applications such as:
– object detection
– detect the position of an object
– tracking an object
Orientation or velocity sensor – Accelerometer Sensor
■ Accelerometers can be used to measure static and dynamic
acceleration in different axis. You can use them on your robot as
tilt sensor or to track its velocity profile.
■ Accelerometers are very important in the sensor world because they can
sense such a wide range of motion.
■ Possible uses for accelerometers in robotics:

– Self balancing robots

– Tilt-mode game controllers
– Collision detection
– Leveling sensor, inclinometer
– Vibration Detectors for Vibration Isolators
– G-Force Detectors
Actuator Theory of Operation

a. DC motor
b. Stepper motor
c. Servo motor
DC Motor
Stepper Motor
■ A stepper motor is an electric motor whose main feature is that
its shaft rotates by performing steps, that is, by moving by a
fixed amount of degrees.
■ This feature is obtained thanks to the internal structure of the
motor, and allows to know the exact angular position of the
shaft by simply counting how may steps have been performed,
with no need for a sensor.
■ This feature also makes it fit for a wide range of applications.
Servo Motor
Methods to control motor speed or direction
in mobile robots
a. Motor speed control – Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
b. Motor direction control – H-Bridge
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)- Motor
Speed Control
■ Pulse-width modulation (PWM) or duty-cycle variation methods are commonly
used in speed control of DC motors.
■ The duty cycle is defined as the percentage of digital ‘high’ to digital ‘low’ plus
digital ‘high’ pulse-width during a PWM period. Fig. 1 shows the 5V pulses with
0% through

■ The average DC voltage value for 0% duty cycle is zero; with 25% duty cycle the
average value is 1.25V (25% of 5V).
■ With a 50% duty cycle the average value is 2.5V, and if the duty cycle is 75%,
the average voltage is 3.75V and so on.
■ The maximum duty cycle can be 100%, which is equivalent to a DC waveform.
Thus by varying the pulse-width, we can vary the average voltage across a DC
motor and hence its speed. 50% duty cycle.
H Bridge – Motor Direction Control
■ H Bridge is a simple electronic circuit which enables us to apply voltage to
load in either direction. It is commonly used in robotics application to control
DC Motors.
■ By using H Bridge we can run DC Motor in
clockwise or anticlockwise directions.
This circuit is also used to produce
alternating waveforms in inverters.
■ You normally use it with a microcontroller,
such as an Arduino, to control motors.
Clockwise Direction Anti Clockwise Direction
THANKS YOU