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A capacitance-based proximity sensor for whole arm obstacle avoidance

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6792923

This paper discusses an application of capacitive sensors for detecting incipient collisions during robot motion in unknown or partially modeled environments. Forty-five sensors capable of detecting obstacles up to 330 mm (13 in.) away were distributed over the surface of a PUMA 560 robot arm. Each sensor consisted of a 4 mm thick, 37 mm diameter rings around 21 mm diameter disks. These sensors can detect both conductive and non-conductive obstacles of arbitrary color and shape. The sensor hardware is reliable and inexpensive, and it may be fabricated using flexible printed circuit boards to provide whole-arm and joint protection for any robot or manipulator. Simple collision avoidance control algorithms that perturb the joint commands from a spaceball to avoid collisions have been implemented on the PUMA 560 robot.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-76DP00789
OSTI ID:
6792923
Report Number(s):
SAND-92-1604C; CONF-930403--14; ON: DE93006773
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English