3 A basic robot system
This chapter covers
- Using basic robot sensors and actuators
- Basic processing of sensor data and actuator control
We previously discussed the six essential parts of a robot system: sensors, sense, plan, act, actuators, and environment (see chapter 1). We also covered the three fundamental robot types: manipulators, mobile robots, and mobile manipulators (see chapter 2). Our focus now shifts to the basics of sensors, sensing, acting, actuators, and their abstract APIs.
First, we cover the fundamentals of robot sensors (section 3.1). Next, we explore sensing and how raw sensor data is processed into meaningful information (section 3.2). Our attention then turns to physical output devices through an examination of actuator basics (section 3.3). Finally, the overview concludes by explaining how the acting part controls these actuators to influence the environment (section 3.4).
3.1 Robot Sensor Basics
Let’s briefly review: sensors are a robot’s input devices. They measure various physical quantities in the environment and make these measurements available as data to the sensing part of the robot software system. The purpose of the sensing part is to give meaning to the raw data received from the sensors.
We will take a deep dive into different types of sensors and sensing later. The goal now is to gain an initial understanding of these parts from a software point of view.