CYCOGS^® Sensing Platforms and Sensor Rings

The CYCOGS^® Company wishes to inform our web site visitors with some beneficial AI Robotic information.  Please note, the CYCOGS^® Company owns and or controls the copyright of all material in this website.  The content of the “Education" portion of this web site is still under the CYCOGS^® Company registered copyright protection.

This is an introduction into Sensing Platforms and the CYCOGS^® brand sensor ring.

In Robotics, sensors are used extensively to learn about the robot’s world and its environment. 

This is even more crucial for Mobile Robots as the world they sense can change rapidly.  Efforts to provide sensor coverage has employed many sensors that are duplicated in various locations, such as a multitude of sonar sensors on a Mobile Robot.  Cost also limits sensor deployment, as some sensors are expensive, such as IR thermal cameras.

Moving and rotating sensor platforms have been around for a long time. 

Moving and rotating sensor platforms include radar dishes, line scan cameras, cameras on a rotating base for "panning", and laser scanners. 

In the Mobile Robotics field, rotating platforms have in addition been used, containing such sensors as laser scanners, sonar sensors, LIDAR sensors, infrared sensors and cameras. 

A  human’s head  represents a prime example of a rotating sensor platform; we aim our head toward a sound we hear for a more attentive check. 

Regrettably, our neck has limited rotation capability.  Some sensors are expensive, consume substantial amounts of power, use a long form factor or occupy a substantial volume.  Many sensors cover only a narrow  Field of View  (FoV)  and some sensors require periodic, involved calibrations and maintenance.  Large sensors may not fit any robot designs, but could if the sensor parts could be distributed or folded in size, such as with the  optical paths  on a Cassegrain telescope.  The CYCOGS^® Company developed a rotating sensor platform that can be scanned or aimed, which can additionally provide the ability to interact with the platform’s environment.  Additionally,  "output"  or  reactive features  can be incorporated, such as aiming a laser or spot light, emitting a directed sound, mechanically moving an object or extending and operating a probe or robotic arm.

In this illustration,  as displayed in Red,  is the placement of two rotary sensor rings shown on a mobile robot.

The CYCOGS^® brand sensor platform reduces the total sensor cost and expands the sensing ability

with no sensor obstructions in a modular design utilizing local processing and control of the sensor platform while featuring a large internal diameter to provide the chassis with maximum interior volume for the supporting structure as well as provides for the traversal past the sensor platform of wires, mechanisms and equipment.  The CYCOGS^® brand Sensor Ring (Sring^™) sensor platform possesses several distinct and independent advantages over the other systems, such as expanding sensor coverage by scanning processes, thus magnifying the sensor’s abilities and range by having direct control over the sensor platform’s position and modes of movement.  The control includes the ability to direct a sensor’s sensing direction, like to inspect and survey an area.

The CYCOGS^® brand Sring^™ local on-board sensor data processing,

as well as the local control of the sensor platform positional control by using one or more embedded computers, reduces the overall system data traffic and allows simplified power and data connections and cable installation.  With local on-board computers, sensor signals can be digitized and processed locally.  Locally processing the sensor data also eliminates the problems of adding additional sensors, as there is no need to include new wire runs in the chassis for each new sensor installed in the sensor platform.

The rotational movements of the sensor ring platform are varied and can range from  stationary,

to continuous  360+  degree rotations,

or even area scanned  (sector scanned  – swinging back and forth to examine a sector of view)

and  other-directed  movements.

The CYCOGS^® brand Sring^™ scanning can furthermore be a  random search pattern,  as in the case of the robot seeking something, jumping from heading to heading  (the view location).

The CYCOGS^® brand Sring^™ sensor ring platform scanning can additionally be  sensor data driven,  like by analyzing the sensor data and moving to the heading of an abnormal sensor reading for particular measurements, such as detecting a loud noise, and rotating the sensor platform to investigate.

This comprises a new option for sensing mobile environments using the CYCOGS^® brand Sring^™ for sensor coverage and cost savings.

For further details on the CYCOGS^® brand Sring^™, please see the Sring product page here.
(Sring^™) product link
For a story about the CYCOGS^® brand Sring^™, please follow its story here.
Sring story link
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