Robotics Sensor Families — Family Index
A consolidated map of the sensor modalities that show up in real robot builds, with vendor product lines so part-number selection is one hop away. Robotics sensing splits into proprioceptive (joints, body, motors — encoders, resolvers, IMU, joint-torque, current) and exteroceptive (the world — cameras, LiDAR, radar, ultrasonic, depth, F/T at the wrist, tactile skin). Modern stacks fuse 4-12 modalities through an EKF / factor graph / learned perception net; the choice of which sensors is set by environment (indoor vs outdoor, lit vs dark, static vs dynamic), platform mass/power budget, and safety category (PLd / SIL2 needs certified devices).
This note is the index — links into the deeper notes are in §23.
1. At a glance — by category
| Category | What it measures | Typical modalities |
|---|---|---|
| Position / angle (rotary) | Shaft angle, joint position | Optical encoder, magnetic encoder, resolver, inductive encoder, Hall |
| Position / displacement (linear) | Linear stage position | Glass/steel linear scale, magnetostrictive (Temposonics), LVDT, capacitive |
| Inertial | Angular rate, linear accel, attitude | MEMS gyro, MEMS accel, FOG / RLG gyro, IMU, AHRS, GNSS-INS |
| Exteroceptive — vision | 2-D image of scene | Global / rolling-shutter CMOS, machine vision, thermal IR, hyperspectral |
| Exteroceptive — range | 3-D depth or distance | LiDAR (mech / solid-state), ToF camera, structured-light, stereo, ultrasonic, radar |
| Exteroceptive — event | Per-pixel intensity changes (asynchronous) | DVS / event camera (Prophesee, iniVation) |
| Force / torque | Wrench at end-effector or joint | 6-axis F/T (strain-gauge), single-axis load cell, joint-torque sensor |
| Tactile | Pressure / shear / vibration on skin | Capacitive arrays, GelSight optical tactile, BioTac, piezoresistive skin |
| Proximity / safety | Object presence inside a zone | Cap / inductive proximity, safety light curtain, safety scanner (PLd) |
| Temperature | Motor windings, electronics, environment | RTD (PT100/1000), thermocouple, NTC, IC sensor |
| Current / voltage | Motor phase + DC bus | Hall current sensor, shunt + isolation amp, current transformer, Rogowski |
| Environmental | Pressure, humidity, magnetic field, gas | Barometer (BMP390), hygrometer, magnetometer (LIS3MDL), gas (BME680) |
The rule of thumb is: every actuated DOF needs at least a position sensor; every floating base needs an IMU; every interaction-rich task needs F/T or tactile; every navigation task needs at least one ranging modality + one inertial.
2. Encoders (rotary)
2.1 Incremental optical
A glass or polymer disc with chrome lines passes between an LED and a photodiode array; quadrature A/B/Z output with up to 5 µm line pitch. Used wherever cost matters and an index pulse is acceptable for homing.
- Heidenhain ROD — ROD 426 / 480 / 1080 industrial; LIDA (linear) sibling.
- Renishaw RGH22 / RGH24 / RGH40 / RGH41 — readhead + RGS tape; ±5 µm accuracy.
- US Digital E5 / E6 / E8P — hobbyist / educational; PPR 250-2500.
- CUI AMT-103 / AMT-112S — capacitive incremental (technically capacitive but binned here); 2048 PPR programmable.
- Avago / Broadcom HEDS / HEDR / AEDA — small motor encoders, common on Maxon / Faulhaber.
2.2 Absolute encoders (single-turn vs multi-turn)
Absolute = unique digital word per position; no homing on power-up. Multi-turn adds a battery-backed counter or a geared/Wiegand wheel to track revolutions.
- Heidenhain ECN 1313 / 1325 (single-turn 25-bit) / EQN 1325 / 1337 (multi-turn 12-bit) — EnDat 2.2 / EnDat 3 serial.
- Sick AHM36 / AHS36 absolute multi-turn, BiSS-C / SSI / CANopen.
- Posital IXARC — magnetic or optical absolute, BiSS / EtherCAT / Profinet variants.
- Renishaw RESOLUTE 32-bit absolute (BiSS-C up to 50 m/s) + RKLF / RTLF20 absolute linear tape.
- Kübler Sendix F58 multi-turn, Heidenhain Functional Safety encoders (ECI 1319S, EQI 1331S — SIL2 / PLd).
2.3 Magnetic encoders
A diametrically magnetised target rotates over a Hall / AMR / GMR / TMR die. Robust to oil, dust, vibration — robotics workhorse.
- iC-Haus iC-MU / iC-MH / iC-PT — system-on-chip with linearisation and BiSS-C.
- AMS / ams-OSRAM AS5048A/B (14-bit), AS5147 / AS5147P (14-bit + motor commutation), AS5600 (12-bit Hall — hobby).
- Allegro A1335 / A1339 360° angle sensor, automotive PPAP.
- Posital Kit encoders MCD-AC — kit form for OEM joint integration.
- Renishaw Magneto-Resistance AksIM-2 absolute on-axis ring, 20-bit.
- ALPS Alpine RDC10x / EC10E — consumer / automotive.
2.4 Inductive encoders
A printed coil PCB excited at MHz creates eddy currents in a passive target; immune to magnetic stray fields (relevant near motors).
- Renishaw RoLin / RKLF inductive absolute linear; ATD inductive rotary.
- Posital IXARC inductive rotary.
- iC-Haus iC-PIM / iC-PI inductive front-ends for OEM.
- Zettlex INC / IncOder — favoured for harmonic-drive joints (slim ring).
2.5 Capacitive encoders
Two PCB patterns form a variable capacitor; modulation gives angle. CUI dominates.
- CUI AMT22 / AMT23 — 14-bit absolute, SPI; very common in cobot research builds.
- Bourns EM14 — 16-position quadrature; 11K3 rotary potentiometers (legacy).
2.6 Hall-effect single-pole
A single Hall over a diametric magnet — the AS5600 family. 12-bit absolute, I²C, $3-5 in qty — popular for hobby manipulators and goniometers.
2.7 Resolution / accuracy envelope
- Precision optical / inductive: ±1-10 arcsec (≈ 5-50 µrad), 20-32 bit.
- Magnetic on-axis: ±0.05-0.2° (≈ 1-4 mrad), 12-22 bit.
- Hobby (AS5600, AMT103): ±0.5-1°, 10-14 bit.
3. Resolvers
A rotary transformer: one primary winding (rotor) and two stator windings at 90° give sin/cos of mechanical angle after demodulation in a resolver-to-digital converter (RDC) like the Analog Devices AD2S1210 / AD2S1205 or TI PGA411. Resolvers tolerate >200 °C, radiation, and indefinite vibration — hence aerospace, military, mag-lev, EV traction motors.
- Tamagawa Smartsyn TS2620N brushless resolver — Toyota / Honda EV traction motor standard.
- LTN RE-15-1-V (Heidenhain group).
- Sumtak SAS Plus, MOOG Components 11BRCX / 21BRW, Ametek-Northstar RIM Tach resolver-tach combo.
- KEB Combivert resolver integration.
Accuracy after RDC: 0.3-2 arcmin (5-30 mrad). Lower than optical but with environmental robustness no glass disc can match.
4. Linear scales
For CNC, semiconductor stages, gantry robots, surgical / haptic gantries.
- Heidenhain LIDA 28x / LIDA 48x / LIDA 79x (incremental); LIC 4xx / LIC 21xx absolute glass / steel-tape, EnDat 2.2.
- Renishaw RGS20 / RTLA20 tapes + TONiC incremental readhead; EVOLUTE / RESOLUTE absolute BiSS-C up to 50 m/s.
- Newport ILS / IMS stages with internal scales.
- Aerotech ANT air-bearing stages, ANT130L 1 nm.
- Magnescale (Sony) SR / SL / DK / BL series magnetic / laser holographic scales — semiconductor lithography stages.
- Mitutoyo AT linear scales (machine tools).
- Temposonics R-series / E-series magnetostrictive linear position — hydraulic cylinders.
Resolution: 1 nm (laser interferometer scale) → 1 µm (typical machine-tool); accuracy ±0.1 µm precision-grade, ±1-5 µm/m industrial.
5. IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit)
A 3-axis gyro + 3-axis accelerometer (a 9-DOF IMU adds a magnetometer). Performance is set by bias stability (°/h for gyros), angle random walk (°/√h), noise density, and g-sensitivity. Three tiers:
5.1 Consumer / industrial MEMS — bias 10-100 °/h
- Bosch Sensortec BMI088 (drone-grade rugged), BMI160 / BMI260 / BMI270 / BMI323 (mobile + AR/VR).
- TDK / InvenSense ICM-20602 / ICM-20649 / ICM-42688-P / ICM-42688-V / ICM-40627 — ICM-42688 is the de-facto open-source FC chip (PX4, ArduPilot, Betaflight).
- STMicroelectronics LSM6DS33 / LSM6DSO / LSM6DSV / ASM330LHH (auto-grade ISO 26262).
- Analog Devices ADXL345 / ADXL355 / ADXL357 (accel), ADIS16265 / ADIS16475 industrial MEMS IMU.
5.2 Tactical-grade — bias 0.1-10 °/h
- Analog Devices ADIS16470 / ADIS16475 / ADIS16500 / ADIS16505 / ADIS16575 / ADIS16545.
- Honeywell HG4930 / HG1120 MEMS IMU.
- Kearfott Monolithic Ring Laser Gyro (low end of nav-grade); KN-4072 / KN-5060.
- Sensonor STIM300 / STIM320 / STIM377H — tactical MEMS, popular on UAV.
- EMCORE SDI500 / SDC500 FOG IMU (lower-cost FOG).
5.3 Navigation-grade — bias < 0.01 °/h
- Honeywell HG1700 / HG9900 / HG1900 ring laser gyro (RLG) — strategic-grade.
- Northrop Grumman LN-100G / LN-251 / LN-260 RLG.
- iXblue Octans / Phins FOG marine inertial nav.
- KVH 1750 / 1775 IMU FOG.
Headline numbers: BMI270 ≈ 4 °/s/√Hz noise, 1°/s bias → unusable for free-inertial nav beyond seconds. ADIS16500 ≈ 1.6 °/h bias → minutes of dead-reckoning. HG9900 ≈ 0.003 °/h → hours of free-inertial nav (submarine-grade).
6. AHRS / GNSS-INS (integrated)
An IMU + magnetometer with onboard sensor fusion (Mahony / EKF / UKF) outputs orientation directly. Add GNSS and you have a GNSS-INS that survives signal outage and gives cm-level position with RTK.
- VectorNav VN-100 (AHRS) / VN-200 (GNSS-INS) / VN-300 (dual-antenna heading).
- Xsens (Movella) MTi-3 / MTi-7 / MTi-600 / MTi-680G / MTi-G-710 — RTK INS in MTi-680G.
- SBG Systems Ellipse-A / Ellipse-N / Ellipse-D / Ekinox / Apogee / Quanta.
- Inertial Labs INS-B / INS-D / INS-DH / MRU.
- Advanced Navigation Spatial / Spatial FOG / Certus / Boreas D90 (DFOG).
- NovAtel SPAN CPT7 / PwrPak7-E1 — RTK + tactical IMU.
- Septentrio AsteRx SBi3 / mosaic-x5 GNSS + INS pairings.
Robotics rule of thumb: drones use VN-100 / MTi-680, AGVs use Ellipse-D, surveying boats / autonomous cars use SPAN or Apogee.
7. LiDAR
7.1 Mechanical spinning (360°)
- Velodyne VLP-16 / Puck Lite (legacy), HDL-32E, Ultra Puck / VLP-32C, Alpha Prime VLS-128 — Velodyne merged with Ouster 2023.
- Ouster OS-0 / OS-1 / OS-2 (32 / 64 / 128 channel digital flash + spinning).
- Hesai Pandar64 / Pandar40 / Pandar128 / PandarXT-16/32 / QT64 mid-range mech.
- Robosense RS-LiDAR-16 / RS-Helios / RS-Bpearl / RS-Ruby Plus.
7.2 Solid-state / MEMS / OPA (forward-looking automotive)
- Innoviz One / Innoviz Two MEMS (BMW iX).
- Cepton Vista-P / Nova flash + micromotion.
- Aeva Aeries II FMCW 1550 nm — coherent, per-point velocity.
- AEye 4Sight A / Apollo.
- Hesai AT128 / AT512 semi-solid-state.
- Luminar Iris / Halo 1550 nm (Volvo EX90).
- Valeo SCALA Gen 1/2/3 (Mercedes Drive Pilot — first L3-certified series LiDAR).
7.3 UAV / mobile mapping
- Velodyne Puck Lite (590 g), VLP-16 Hi-Res.
- Livox Mid-40 / Mid-70 / Mid-360 / Avia / Horizon / HAP — non-repetitive scan pattern.
- Hesai PandarXT-32 / XT-16.
- DJI Zenmuse L1 / L2 integrated LiDAR + RGB + IMU for Matrice M300/M350.
- Ouster OS-Dome for indoor mapping (180° vertical FOV).
7.4 Wavelength tradeoffs
- 905 nm (Velodyne, Ouster, Livox): Si detectors, cheap, eye-safety limits power → ~200 m max.
- 1550 nm (Aeva, Luminar): InGaAs detectors, eye-safe at higher power → 300-500 m, less Rayleigh-scattered by fog.
7.5 Indoor / robotics 2-D LiDAR
- Hokuyo URG-04LX, UST-10LX / UST-30LX / UAM-05LP (safety, PLd/SIL2).
- Slamtec RPLIDAR A1/A2/A3/S1/S2 — hobby + AMR.
- SICK TIM240 / TIM561 / LMS1xx / LMS5xx / nanoScan3 / microScan3 — safety-rated 2-D.
8. Depth + ToF cameras
8.1 Active stereo / structured-light
- Intel RealSense D415 / D435 / D435i (with IMU) / D455 / D456 / D405 (D405 close-range 7-50 cm), D421 SoM.
- Stereolabs ZED 2 / ZED 2i (IMU + magnetometer) / ZED X / ZED Mini — passive stereo, big baseline.
- Luxonis OAK-D / OAK-D Pro / OAK-D Pro W / OAK-D S2 / OAK-FFC — Movidius Myriad X / Gen3 RVC + stereo + AI inference onboard.
- Photoneo PhoXi M / S / XL / MotionCam-3D sequential structured light, sub-mm.
- Mech-Mind Mech-Eye PRO M / Nano / Deep / UHP structured light.
- Zivid 2 / Zivid 2+ / Zivid 2+ MR130 — premium industrial structured light.
- Orbbec Astra+ / Femto Bolt / Femto Mega / Gemini 2 / Gemini 335 — Azure-Kinect successor after Microsoft EOL.
8.2 Time-of-flight (single-shot)
- Microsoft Azure Kinect DK (EOL 2023, replaced by Orbbec Femto Mega — same Sony ToF sensor).
- Basler blaze 101 / 102 ToF.
- Lucid Helios2 / Helios2+ ToF (Sony DepthSense).
- PMD CamCube / pico flexx / pico monstar / pico ipm.
- TI / Analog Devices ADTF31xx ToF reference designs.
8.3 Indirect-ToF (iToF) modules
- Sony IMX556 / IMX570 / IMX590 sensors inside many of the above.
- AMS / ams-OSRAM VL53L1 / VL53L5 / VL53L8 consumer dToF — UAV altitude / drop detection.
9. RGB cameras / global vs rolling shutter
9.1 Industrial / machine vision
- Basler ace / ace 2 (a2A series) / dart / boost / boost+ / blaze — USB3 / GigE / CXP / 10GigE.
- Allied Vision Mako / Manta / Prosilica / Alvium 1800 / Alvium G1 (1800 is the small embedded line).
- FLIR / Teledyne Blackfly S / Oryx / Forge / Triton / Firefly DL (Firefly DL has Movidius Myriad 2 on-camera).
- IDS uEye+ / Sony XCG / Lucid Atlas / Phoenix / Triton.
- e-con Systems See3CAM USB UVC industrial.
9.2 Embedded / mobile / UAV
- Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 (IMX708) / HQ Camera (IMX477).
- Sony IMX477 / IMX585 / IMX585 stacked / IMX390 (auto-grade).
- OnSemi AR0231-AT / AR0233-AT auto-grade (Mobileye, Tesla legacy HW3).
- Omnivision OV9281 (global shutter mono) / OX03C10.
9.3 Shutter rule
- Global shutter (all pixels expose simultaneously): mandatory for VIO / VSLAM / drone state estimation / pick-and-place — no skew on motion.
- Rolling shutter: cheaper, fine for static documentation, surveillance, GUI cameras.
9.4 Lens mounts
C / CS (industrial), M12 / S-mount (board cameras), F-mount (large format inspection), Sony E / L-mount (machine vision premium).
10. Event cameras (DVS / asynchronous)
Each pixel independently emits a +1/-1 spike when log-intensity changes by a threshold — microsecond latency, ~140 dB HDR, sparse output (no clock-driven frames).
- Prophesee Gen3 / Gen4 (IMX636 partnership with Sony, 1280×720) — used in Sony α9 III (2024 — first global-shutter consumer ILC with event-camera AF assist).
- iniVation DVS128 / DAVIS240 / DAVIS346 — hybrid event + APS RGB frame.
- Samsung DVS Gen3 (research/sample).
- CelePixel CeleX-5 (China).
Use cases: ultra-fast manipulation visual servoing, high-speed obstacle avoidance (Zurich/UZH drone work), particle / droplet imaging.
11. Hyperspectral / multispectral
- Specim FX10 / FX17 / FX50 push-broom hyperspectral.
- Cubert ULTRIS Q20 / X20 / S5 / S185 snapshot.
- Headwall Nano-Hyperspec / Co-Aligned / Photonics.
- MicaSense RedEdge-MX / RedEdge-P / Altum-PT UAV agriculture.
- Resonon Pika push-broom.
Robotics use: agriculture (crop stress), waste sorting, recycling, food inspection.
12. Thermal infrared (LWIR 8-14 µm)
Uncooled microbolometer arrays; no shutter calibration needed on radiometric units periodically.
- FLIR Boson / Boson+ (320×256 / 640×512), Lepton 3.5 / 3.1R, Hadron 640 / Tau 2 / Tau 2+ (military export-controlled).
- Teledyne DALSA Calibir GXM / GX.
- Workswell SmartIR / WIRIS Pro UAV thermal.
- Optris PI / Xi.
- Seek Thermal Mosaic / S304SP.
Robot uses: HRC safety zones (human body detection independent of lighting), fire / leak inspection, livestock monitoring.
13. Ultrasonic distance
- HC-SR04 / HC-SR05 / JSN-SR04T — hobby, 2-400 cm.
- MaxBotix MaxSonar LV / HRLV / I2CXL / XL / WR weather-resistant — industrial workhorse, ±1 mm with HRLV.
- Pepperl+Fuchs UC-series / UB-series — IO-Link.
- MicroSonic Mic-series / pico+/mic+/lpc+ — high-resolution.
- Banner U-GAGE T30U / Q45U — AGV bumpers.
- Devantech SRF02 / SRF08 / SRF10.
Limits: 30-60 cm minimum dead zone, cone angle 15-30°, slow update (10-25 Hz), affected by temperature (≈ 0.18%/°C).
14. Radar (mm-wave)
Frequency bands: 24 GHz (legacy / ISM), 60 GHz (TI IWR6843 ISM short-range gesture / occupancy), 77 GHz (automotive LRR/SRR), 79 GHz (UWB automotive ISO).
14.1 Single-chip integrated (SoC)
- TI IWR1443 / IWR1843 / IWR6443 / IWR6843AOP / AWR1843 / AWR2243 / AWR2944 — cascaded 4-chip AWR2243 gives high-angular-res automotive imaging radar.
- NXP TEF810x / TEF82xx / SAF85xx.
- Infineon BGT24LTR11 / BGT24MTR12 (24 GHz), BGT60TR13C / BGT60UTR13D / BGT60ATR24C (60 GHz Soli-class).
- Silicon Radar TRX_060_007 / TRX_120_001 (120/240 GHz research).
14.2 Module / tier-1 supplier radars
- Smartmicro UMRR-11 / UMRR-96 / DRVEGRD 169 (auto LRR + SRR).
- Continental ARS510 / ARS540 / SRR520 / SRR308.
- Bosch MRR / LRR4 / LRR5 / FRC.
- Hella RT4 / RTplus (now FORVIA).
- Aptiv ESR / SRR / MRR.
- Arbe Phoenix imaging radar (2304 virtual channels).
Drone/AGV uses: obstacle avoidance through dust/fog/snow (LiDAR fails), velocity (Doppler is direct), altitude (downward-looking).
15. Force / torque (6-axis F/T sensors)
A monolithic strain-gauged hexapod / Stewart-platform-style flexure with 6 bridges → wrench (Fx Fy Fz Tx Ty Tz) decoded by a calibration matrix.
- ATI Industrial Automation (gold standard since 1980s) — Nano17 / Nano25 / Mini40 / Mini45 / Mini58 / Gamma / Delta / Theta / Omega / Omega160 / Omega190. EtherCAT / EtherNet/IP / Wireless / DAQ F/T variants. Cobot-mounted: Axia80-M8, Axia90M50.
- Bota Systems — SensONE / Rokubi / SensOne-M8 / MiniONE Pro / Medusa (Swiss, EtherCAT focus). Open ROS 2 drivers.
- OnRobot HEX-E / HEX-H F/T for UR / cobot wrists.
- Robotous RFT- series.
- Sunrise Instruments M3705-series / M3815-series (Chinese-domestic standard).
- Schunk FT-Sensor / FTA.
- Kistler MiniDyn / MicroDyn / 9255C piezo (high-bandwidth, no DC).
- Wittenstein TorqueDirect integrated joint torque.
- JR3 / Force Dimension legacy.
Typical capacities: Nano17 ±50 N / ±0.5 Nm; Mini45 ±290 N / ±10 Nm; Delta ±660 N / ±60 Nm; Omega190 ±36 kN / ±2800 Nm. Accuracy ~0.1-1% FS, crosstalk <2% after factory calibration.
16. Single-axis force / load cells
- HBM (HBK) C2 / C9C / U1A / U10M / Z6 / S2M / S9M — research-grade, OIML.
- Interface 1010 / 1100 / 1500 / 2400 / SSM S-beam, low-profile.
- Futek LSB / LCB / LCM / FSH / QSH miniature.
- Honeywell Model 31 / Model 41 / Model 53 medical.
- Vishay BLH / Tedea-Huntleigh / Sensortronics.
- ME-Messsysteme KD40s / KD24s.
Range: 1 g (research) to 1 MN (structural test rig). Accuracy 0.02-0.5% FS.
17. Joint-torque sensors (built into the joint)
Mostly built into harmonic-drive flexsplines or as a sandwich between the wave-gear and the output flange.
- Kollmorgen RGM cobot modules integrate strain on the flexspline.
- KUKA LBR iiwa / iiwa 14 R820 — proprietary 7×7 joint-torque sensor pack.
- Franka Emika Panda / FR3 — strain gauges on each joint output, the basis of its compliance.
- Universal Robots e-Series / CB-Series — no dedicated joint-torque sensor; uses motor-current estimation + a model — works for soft impedance but is noisier than direct sensing.
- Magtrol TM / TM-308 / TMHS in-line rotating torque.
- Datum Electronics TS rotating telemetry in-line.
- HBM T40B / T22 / T12 rotating torque flange.
- NCTE magnetoelastic non-contact torque.
18. Tactile / electronic skin
18.1 Capacitive / piezoresistive pressure arrays
- Pressure Profile Systems (PPS) DigiTact / RoboTouch / FingerTPS — multi-pad capacitive.
- Tekscan Flexiforce A201 / A301 / A401, Tekscan I-Scan large-area pressure mats.
- Sensitronics ShuntMode.
- Plantiga / XSensor / Novel pliance distributed pressure.
18.2 Optical tactile (GelSight family)
A piece of clear silicone gel with a reflective skin, lit from inside by LEDs, imaged by a tiny camera — micron-scale 3-D surface map of contact.
- MIT GelSight / GelSight Mini / GelSight Wedge / GelSight Svelte.
- Stanford GelSlim / OmniTact.
- Toyota Research Institute Soft-Bubble (Stanford / TRI 2020) — internal camera + pressure inside a compliant bubble.
- Compliant Robotics, GelSight Inc. commercial spinout.
18.3 Multi-modal fingertip
- SynTouch BioTac / BioTac SP — force + vibration + temperature + impedance; used on Robonaut 2, iCub.
- Contactile PaPaC.
- Robotous T-7 / T-9.
- Xela Robotics uSkin capacitive 3-axis fingertip taxels (15-50 taxels).
18.4 Full-body e-skin
- ROBOSKIN piezo / capacitive cells (iCub, ARMAR-6).
- AnyArray / Anyskin (Carnegie Mellon) magnetised silicone + magnetometer.
- Festo BionicSoftHand soft skin.
19. Proximity / safety
19.1 Single-point proximity (non-safety)
- Capacitive: Banner T18 / T30, IFM KG / KQ.
- Inductive: Pepperl+Fuchs NRB / NBN, SICK IM / IME, Balluff BES.
- Through-beam / retroreflective IR: SICK W-series, Banner Q4X / QS18, Keyence PR / FS.
- Magnetic reed / Hall: Honeywell SS-series, SICK MM.
19.2 Safety LiDAR / area scanners (PLd / SIL2)
- SICK microScan3 / nanoScan3 / outdoorScan3 / S300 / S3000 / TiM-S.
- Hokuyo UAM-05LP-T301 / UST-30LX-EW (safety variant) / URM-30LX.
- Omron OS32C / UST-05LN.
- Keyence SZ-V / SZ-04M.
- Leuze RSL400 / RSL410.
19.3 Safety light curtains
- SICK deTec4 / C4000 / miniTwin.
- Banner XS26-2 / EZ-Screen LS.
- Omron F3SG-SR / F3SG-PG.
- Keyence GL-R / SL-V.
- Pilz PSEN sl / PSENopt.
Used to draw 2-D safety zones around AMRs / collaborative cells; certified up to Cat-3 PLd.
20. Voltage / current — motor and battery
20.1 Hall-effect open-loop / closed-loop
- Allegro ACS712 / ACS722 / ACS770 / ACS37800 — board-mounted 5-200 A.
- TI TMCS1100 / TMCS1133 isolated Hall.
- LEM HASS / HAIS / LA-series / LF-series / LTSR / Athena / IBS — bus-bar / DIN-rail through-hole sensors for inverters (3-2000 A).
- Melexis MLX91220 / MLX91221.
20.2 Shunt + isolation amplifier
- TI AMC1100 / AMC1300 / AMC1311 / AMC1306 — reinforced isolation Σ-Δ.
- Broadcom HCPL-7800 / ACPL-C87A / ACPL-790B.
- Analog Devices ADuM4190 / ADuM3190.
20.3 Wide-band / high-current
- Rogowski coils: LEM Athena, IBS BAT300, PEM CWT.
- Current transformers (AC only): Magnelab SCT, Triad CST.
20.4 Battery management
- TI BQ7693 / BQ76952 / BQ76942 AFE for Li-ion packs.
- Analog Devices LTC6811 / LTC6813 / ADBMS6815 / ADBMS6830 EV-grade stack monitors.
21. Comparison table
| Modality | Typical metric | Range | Accuracy / resolution | Typical robot use | Exemplar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incremental optical encoder | Counts / rev | n/a | 250-10 000 PPR, ±1-10 arcsec | Servo motor commutation | Heidenhain ROD 880 |
| Absolute optical encoder | Bits | n/a | 22-32 bit | Joint position cobot | Heidenhain ECN 1325 |
| Magnetic encoder | Angle | n/a | 12-22 bit | Cobot joints, BLDC | AMS AS5147P |
| Resolver | Sin/cos | n/a | 14-16 bit after RDC | EV traction, mil | Tamagawa TS2620N |
| Linear scale | Pos | 0.05-30 m | 1 nm-5 µm | CNC stage, gantry | Renishaw RESOLUTE + RKLF |
| MEMS IMU | rate + accel | n/a | bias 1-100 °/h | Drone, AMR | ICM-42688-P |
| Tactical IMU | rate + accel | n/a | bias 0.1-1 °/h | Underwater AUV, UAV mapping | ADIS16500 |
| Nav-grade IMU | rate + accel | n/a | bias <0.01 °/h | Sub, missile, MagLev | Honeywell HG9900 |
| AHRS / GNSS-INS | pose | n/a | cm + 0.05° (RTK) | Autonomous truck, mapping | VN-300, Xsens MTi-680G |
| 360° spinning LiDAR | range | 0.5-200 m | ±2-3 cm, 0.1-0.4° angular | AMR / car perception | Ouster OS-1-64 |
| Solid-state LiDAR | range | 1-300 m | ±3-5 cm | Auto forward | Innoviz Two, Luminar Iris |
| ToF camera | depth | 0.3-5 m | ±5-30 mm | Bin-picking, HRC | Azure Kinect / Femto Mega |
| Active stereo | depth | 0.1-10 m | ±1% range | RealSense apps, AMR | RealSense D455 |
| Structured light | depth | 0.3-2 m | ±50-200 µm | Bin picking | Photoneo PhoXi M |
| RGB global shutter | image | n/a | 1-20 MP | VSLAM, VIO | Basler ace a2A1920 |
| Event camera | events | n/a | 1 µs latency | High-speed visual servo | Prophesee Gen4 |
| Thermal IR | temperature image | -20 to 550 °C | ±2 °C, 320×256-640×512 | HRC, leak, livestock | FLIR Boson |
| Ultrasonic | distance | 2-700 cm | ±1 mm (HRLV) | AGV bumper | MaxBotix MB7389 |
| Auto radar 77 GHz | range + Doppler | 0.5-250 m | ±10 cm, 0.1 m/s | Auto LRR | Continental ARS540 |
| 60 GHz radar | gesture / occupancy | 0.1-10 m | mm | Cabin / cobot | Infineon BGT60TR13C |
| 6-axis F/T | wrench | varies | 0.1-1% FS | Polish, assembly | ATI Mini45, Bota SensONE |
| Single-axis load cell | force | 0.001 N-1 MN | 0.02-0.5% FS | Test rig | HBM C9C |
| Joint torque | torque | 1-1000 Nm | 0.5-2% FS | Cobot impedance | KUKA iiwa, Franka |
| Capacitive tactile | pressure map | 0.1-100 N/taxel | 8-12 bit | Gripper fingertip | PPS RoboTouch |
| GelSight | 3-D contact | 0-5 mm depth | 25 µm xy | Manipulation research | GelSight Mini |
| Safety LiDAR | 2-D range | 0-30 m | ±30 mm, Cat-3 PLd | Cell perimeter | SICK microScan3 |
| Hall current | I | ±5 to ±2000 A | 0.5-2% FS | Motor inverter | LEM HASS-50 |
| Shunt + iso amp | I | ±10 mA-100 A | 0.1-0.5% | Battery BMS | TI AMC1306 |
22. Sample fusion stacks
22.1 L4 autonomous passenger vehicle
- 6-12× automotive cameras (OnSemi AR0231-AT, 1920×1080 @ 30 fps, global shutter) — front, surround, fish-eye.
- 1-3× LiDAR (Luminar Iris forward + Velodyne / Ouster spinning roof + side flash).
- 5-8× radar (Continental ARS540 LRR + SRR corner units).
- 1× nav-grade or tactical IMU + 2× GNSS antenna (NovAtel SPAN CPT7).
- Wheel-speed sensors + steering angle (CAN).
- Fusion: tightly-coupled GNSS+IMU EKF in pose layer; HD-map matching; cameras + LiDAR + radar feed perception net → object-level tracker (Kalman / IMM / MHT). Reference: Cruise / Waymo / Mobileye.
22.2 Cobot HRC (human-robot collaboration)
- Wrist 6-axis F/T (Bota SensONE / ATI Axia80) at 1 kHz.
- Joint torque (KUKA iiwa) or motor current (UR e-Series) at 1 kHz.
- 2× safety scanner (SICK microScan3) defining warn / protective zones.
- 1× safety light curtain (SICK deTec4) at fence.
- 1× depth camera (RealSense D455 / Azure Kinect Femto Mega) on ceiling for human pose / digit tracking.
- Optional: skin-cap proximity on the manipulator (Bosch APAS legacy) for last-cm avoidance.
- Speed-and-separation-monitoring + power-and-force-limiting per ISO 10218 / ISO/TS 15066.
22.3 Indoor AMR / warehouse robot
- 2× safety 2-D LiDAR (SICK nanoScan3 / Hokuyo UAM-05LP) front + rear corners.
- 1× 3-D LiDAR (Ouster OS-0) or 1× 3-D stereo (ZED 2i) on the mast.
- 1× IMU (Xsens MTi-3 / VN-100).
- Wheel encoders (2× incremental optical / magnetic).
- Optional ceiling fiducial cam or QR-floor cam.
- SLAM: Cartographer / SLAM Toolbox over LiDAR + IMU + odom, fused with EKF (
robot_localization).
22.4 Drone (multirotor)
- 1× IMU (BMI088 + ICM-42688 dual on Pixhawk 6X / Cube Orange).
- 1× barometer (BMP390).
- 1× magnetometer (RM3100, IST8310, LIS3MDL).
- 1× GNSS / RTK (u-blox F9P / M8N + Holybro DroneCAN GPS).
- Downward TOF (TFmini / VL53L1X / Garmin Lidar-Lite v3HP).
- Optical flow (PMW3901 / Hereflow / Cheerson).
- Optional payload: Velodyne Puck Lite + Sony α7 for mapping, or Livox Mid-360 + RGB for SLAM.
- Fusion: EKF2 (PX4) or EKF3 (ArduPilot) — 24-state quaternion filter.
22.5 Surgical / haptic robot
- 1-2× absolute optical encoders per joint (Heidenhain ECN).
- 6-axis F/T at the tool wrist (ATI Nano17 / Mini40).
- Tracking: optical (NDI Polaris / Vicon Tracker) or EM (Aurora) for tool tip.
- Endoscopic stereo camera + AI segmentation overlay.
23. Cross-references
- sensors-pose-motion — proprioceptive subset
- sensors-perception — exteroceptive deep-dive
- sensors-force-tactile — wrench + skin deep-dive
- slam — fusion + mapping algorithms
- bayesian-estimation — EKF / UKF / particle filter
- perception-sensors — Tier 3 perception-specific deep-dive
- semiconductor-materials — InGaAs detectors, SiPM, SPAD
- op-amp-variants — isolation amps, instrumentation amps
- _index — Tier 3 robotics index
24. Citations
- Bosch Sensortec BMI088 / BMI270 / BMI323 datasheets — bosch-sensortec.com.
- TDK InvenSense ICM-42688-P datasheet rev. 1.7.
- STMicroelectronics LSM6DSO / ASM330LHH datasheets.
- Analog Devices ADIS16470 / ADIS16500 / AD2S1210 datasheets.
- Heidenhain Encoders Catalogue (2024 edition).
- Renishaw RESOLUTE absolute encoder and RKLF tape data sheet.
- AMS / ams-OSRAM AS5048 / AS5147P / AS5600 datasheets.
- Velodyne Puck (VLP-16) and Ouster OS-1 data sheets.
- Innoviz One / Two product briefs.
- Aeva Aeries II FMCW LiDAR product brief.
- Luminar Iris specification.
- Intel RealSense D455 / D435i datasheets.
- Stereolabs ZED 2i datasheet.
- Microsoft Azure Kinect DK Hardware Spec, deprecated 2023.
- Orbbec Femto Mega and Gemini 335 datasheets.
- Prophesee Gen4 (IMX636) press kit.
- FLIR Boson 640 datasheet.
- MaxBotix MB7389 HRLV-MaxSonar-WR datasheet.
- TI IWR6843AOP / AWR2944 datasheets.
- Continental ARS540 product brief.
- ATI Industrial Automation F/T Sensor System Engineering Manual (2023).
- Bota Systems SensONE datasheet.
- HBM (HBK) load-cell handbook.
- SICK microScan3 Pro / Core operating instructions.
- Hokuyo UAM-05LP-T301 specification.
- LEM HASS / Athena current sensor datasheets.
- TI AMC1306 isolated Σ-Δ modulator datasheet.
- ISO 10218-1/-2:2011 and ISO/TS 15066:2016 (collaborative robot safety).
- IEC 61496 (electro-sensitive protective equipment) — iec.ch.