Sensors for Mini - UAV

Rajesh H Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering IV B.TECH Amrita School of Engineering Coimbatore

Abstract There has been rapid improvements in Sensor

Technology in recent days, which had made miniature flying robots fully possible. This Paper speaks about the various types of sensors needed in mini - UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and also tells why a particular sensor is needed and their basic working. This paper also provides information about some of the various commercially available sensors that can be installed in Mini UAV.

this paper provides the required information regarding sensors by providing the list of major sensors needed in section II, need of each sensor in section III, basic working of each sensor in Section IV and few commercially available sensors in section V.

II.

LIST OF MAJOR SENSORS

I.

INTRODUCTION Accelerometer Rate Gyros SONAR GPS Receiver

An UAV is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle which doesnt require an on-board pilot. The prefix mini is used as the system or vehicle is very small is size. An example of such an UAV is shown in Fig.1

III.

NEED FOR

A PARTICULAR SENSOR

Fig. 1 As UAV like Quad Rotor1 is an aerial vehicle with six degrees of freedom, it requires various control actions to be taken to properly maneuver and keep the craft in a required flight condition. Whenever there is a need for control action, then there is a need for sensors to measure the control variables. Thus,
1

The six degrees of freedom of any flying robot are movement along three axis (X, Y, and Z) and rotation about three axes. To control these six degrees of freedom, we need some kind of measurement of changes in each degree of freedom. The three degrees of freedom, namely translational motion along each axis can be controlled by measuring the acceleration along each axis, respectively. For this measurement of acceleration along an axis, accelerometer can be used. The rest of the three degrees of freedom, namely rotational motion about each axis can be controlled by measuring the acceleration about each axis. For this measurement of acceleration about each axis, Rate Gyros can be used. This Para can be easily

Quad Rotor UAV is my present project

understood from Fig.2 and from a typical example in Fig.3

Fig. 4 Rate Gyro Rate Gyros are sensors used to sense the angular rate of turn about some defined axis. In many cases, where a geomagnetic field is either absent (in space) or is altered by the presence of some disturbances, a gyroscope is an indispensable sensor for defining the position of a vehicle. A gyro operation is based on the fundamental principle of the conservation of angular momentum: In any system of particles, the total angular momentum of the system relative to any point fixed in space remains constant provided no external forces act on the system. SONAR SONAR is the acronym of SOund Navigation And Ranging, which identifies a sensor capable of measuring a distance through ultrasound waves. It composed of two ultrasound capsules. These two capsules are transducers which convert ultrasonic waves into electrical signals and vice versa. One capsule is used for the wave transmission while the other one for the wave reception. GPS Receiver The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a worldwide radio-navigation system formed from a constellation of 24 satellites and their ground stations. GPS is the only system today able to show exact position on the Earth anytime, in any weather, anywhere. GPS satellites orbit at 11,000 nautical miles above the Earth. They are continuously monitored by ground stations located worldwide. The satellites transmit signals that can be detected by anyone with a GPS receiver. Using the receiver, anyone can determine their location with great precision.

Fig. 2

Fig. 3 Apart from the sensors for controlling these six degrees of freedom of a flying robot, there will be need of sensors for obstacle avoidance and to know where the Robot is located on Earth at any instant. Obstacles can be avoided by detecting whether any obstacle is present at a particular distance from robot, using SONAR. The exact robots location on earth can be found using GPS Receiver onboard.

IV.

BASIC WORKING OF EACH SENSOR

Accelerometer Accelerometers are sensors and instruments used for measuring acceleration and vibration. Accelerometers are based on properties of rotating masses. The most common design is based on a combination of Newtons law of mass acceleration and Hookes law of spring action, as in Fig.4.

V.

COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SENSORS

Accelerometer

(Analog devices)
Gyroscope (Silicon sensing)

Accelerometer

- ADXL203 (ruler is in centimeters)

Gyroscope (Silicon Sensing)

Accelerometer (Memsic)

Gyroscope - ADXRS150EB (ruler in centimeter)

Gyroscope (Murata)

SRF08 SONAR (Devantech)

Silicon sensing memsic

CRS02c

Single axis angular rate sensor low cost, dual-axis thermal accelerometer

MX2125

CONCLUSION This paper described about most needed sensors for Mini UAV and their importance in Mini UAV. Also, various sensors which are commercially available and suitable for using On-board in Mini UAV are explored. ACKNOWLEDGMENT IMU (Inertial Measuring Unit) I would like thank Dr. Radhamani Pillai, Former Senior Lecturer in Amrita University, Coimbatore, who inspired and helped me to do Quad Rotor UAV as one of my academic projects. I would also like to thank Mr. J.Chandrasekaran, Head of Aerospace Department, Amrita University, Coimbatore, who is guiding me in Project on Quad Rotor UAV. REFERENCES
[1] Pedro Castillo, Rogelio Lozano and Alejandro E. Dzul, Modeling and Control of Mini-Flying Machines, Advances in Industrial Control, Springer, 2005. [2] Jacob Fraden, Handbook of Modern Sensors: Physics, Designs, and Applications, 3rd ed., Springer, 2003. [3] Samir Bouabdallah, Marcelo Becker, Vincent de Perrot, and Roland Siegwart, Toward Obstacle Avoidance on Quadrotors, Proceedings of the XII International Symposium on Dynamic Problems of Mechanics, 2007. [4] Kimon P.Valavanis, Advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles State of the Art and the Road to Autonomy, International Series on Intelligent Systems, Control, and Automation: Science and Engineering, Springer, vol 33, 2007. [5] www.rctoys.com [6] www.honeywell.com [7] www.memsic.com [8] www.siliconsensing.com [9] www.analog.com [10] www.microstrain.com

List of Available Sensors Analog Devices Analog Devices Analog Devices Analog Devices Analog Devices Murata ADXL203EB Dual Axis Accelerometer Dual Axis Accelerometer Dual Axis Accelerometer 300deg/s single chip rate gyro 150 deg./sec. angular rate sensor Angular rate gyro

ADXL202

ADXL311

ADXRS300ABG

ADXRS150ABG

ENC 03

Silicon sensing

CRS04c

Single axis angular rate sensor