Proximity sensing for robots

Abstract

External sensing is used to tell the robot what is happening in its working environment. These systems are based primarily on principles related to human touch, vision and hearing, with some other techniques, such as magnetics, also used. The paper describes some of the different types of proximity sensors and ranging methods used in robot systems, including; inductive sensors; capacitive sensors; photoelectric sensors; acoustic sensors; Pentax Autofocus sensor; ultrasonic time-of-flight ranging; and laser based time-of-flight ranging.