TRC3500 Section 01 - Introduction

TRC3500 Sensors and Artificial Perception

1Andy Russell 6/2007

Section 1 – Introduction

TRC3500

Sensors and Artificial

Perception



Unit staff

Lecturer (Clayton):

Dr. Jonathan Li

Room 226, Building 72

Phone: +61 3 99051941

E-mail: [email protected]

Lecturer (Sunway):

Dr. Kuppan Chetty Ramanathan

Room 5-4-36

Phone: +60 3 55146202

E-mail: [email protected]

Jonathan Li 2/2010



Administration

Jonathan Li 2/2010

Lectures:

3 hours of lectures per week (some lectures used as revision/test time)

Laboratories (20% overall mark):

2 hours of laboratories per week – 5 exercises worth 4% each

DO NOT PLAGIARISE - checked with past submissions

Mid Semester Test (10% overall mark):

During lecture time - Week 7, Tuesday 17 April.

Final Exam (70% overall mark)

3 hours long



Administration

Lab induction

Information on OH&S is in your lab manual, and the demonstrators will

give you a refresher in the first lab.

To be able to submit assignments in Moodle, you need to correctly

complete the Lab Induction Quiz – score full marks.

If you do not complete this step, you will score zero for your lab reports.



Steps for asking questions

Jonathan Li 2/2010

Follow these steps if you have a question about TRC3500

Step 1: Try to find a solution yourself

Look at lecture notes, textbook, unit guide etc

Have a few tries at the problem

Step 2a: Ask lab demonstrator

Step 2b: Discussion boards on MUSO

Don’t be shy!

Step 3: Ask lecturer

Can e-mail questions or consultation requests

Include “TRC3500:” in subject field



Material Covered in this Unit

• What is a sensor?

• What are the physical principles behind their operation?

• Give examples of commonly used sensors and some applications.

• Give examples of more specialised sensors used in robotic systems.

• Analogue signal conditioning for sensors - filtering and amplification.

• Converting analogue signals to digital form for processing by a

computer.

• Elementary concepts from digital signal processing.

• Some specialised aspects of sensing - binary image processing, bar

codes and RFID devices.



Specific Aims (1/2)

• To ensure that you become familiar with the operation of sensors

• To indicate how sensor technology will develop in the future

• To enable you to select appropriate sensors for use in industrial automation and similar applications

• To show some of the sensors used in robotic applications



Specific Aims (2/2)

• To indicate how you would:

– connect a sensor to an information processing system

– filter and amplify its signal

– convert to digital form

– apply elementary digital signal processing operations to help remove noise

• To outline image processing techniques used in industrial computer vision

• To indicate important big growth areas in sensing technology

– machine readable item identification by means of bar codes

– RFID technology



Sensors - An Essential Mechatronic Component



Sensors in Many Consumer Products

What sensors do you

think that this Wii

remote contains?

Jonathan Li 2/2010

Buttons (switches)

Bluetooth communication

Infrared receivers

3D capacitive accelerometer



Microwave Ovens Contain Sensors

Most modern white

goods are

microprocessor

controlled and

contain sensors to

improve their

performance



Robots

Even simple

swarm robots that

emulate insects

contain many

sensors



Capsule Endoscopy

There are some sensory

devices that you may not

be familiar with.

This is a miniature

camera that is swallowed

and takes one picture per

second as it passes

through your

gastrointestinal tract. It is

used to diagnose

intestinal problems.

http://www.givenimaging.com



Capsule Endoscopy Pictures

http://www.givenimaging.com

NSAID injury Nematode parasites



Industrial Processes

Most industrial

processes and

production lines

are computer

controlled and

rely very heavily

on sensors to

monitor the

quantities that

need to be

controlled.



The Unit Contents - By Section

1. Introduction - this introduction

2. Sensor Technology - principles of sensor operation

3. Sensor Examples

4. Robotic Sensors - some examples

5. Noise and Loading - problems acquiring sensor data

6. Binary Image Processing - sufficient for many industrial applications

7. Bar Codes - what they are and how to interpret them

8. Dedicated Short-Range Communication Systems

9. Operational Amplifiers and Filters - some solutions

10. Analogue <> Digital Conversion

11. Digital Signal Processing

The following textbook covers a large portion of the contents of this unit and although

some of the material is not treated in the same depth it is a very useful reference:

W. Bolton, Mechatronics - 4rd Edition, Pearson, 2008.



Problems for Section 1

1.1 List the four essential components of a

mechatronic system.

1.2 Thinking of a modern motorcar as a

mechatronic system explain which parts correspond to

the four essential components of a mechatronic

system.

1.3 Describe the kinds of mechatronic systems that

would be involved in the high-volume manufacture of

a chocolate bar.

1.4 Could a laptop computer be classified as a

mechatronic device? Justify your answer.

Documents

TRC3500 Section 01 - Introduction