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Texas Instruments The Future of Robotics | 23 Last-mile Delivery Robots In a product's journey from warehouse shelf to customer doorstep, the last mile of delivery is the final step of the process: the point at which the package finally arrives at the buyer's door. In addition to being key to customer satisfaction, last-mile delivery is expensive and time-consuming. Last-mile delivery costs are a substantial percentage of the total shipping cost: 53 percent overall. As such, making the last mile of delivery more efficient has become a focus for where to develop and implement new robotics technologies that can drive process improvements and increased efficiency. Time-of-flight (ToF) Optical Sensors These sensors rely on the principle of ToF and use a photodiode (a single sensor element or an array) along with active illumination to measure distance. The reflected light waves from obstacles are compared with the transmitted wave to measure the delay, which in turn is a representation of distance. This data then helps create a 3D map of the object. TI's ToF chipsets enable ToF-based sensing that goes beyond proximity detection to enable next-generation machine vision. The chipsets allow for maximum flexibility to customize designs for robot vision and other applications, with tools that include an evaluation module and a highly configurable camera development kit, which provides a 3D location of each pixel for accurate depth maps that aid customization. Discrete solutions leverage leading-edge topologies and semiconductor technologies such as time-to-digital converter and gallium nitride (GaN), as demonstrated in the LIDAR Pulsed Time of Flight Reference Design and the Nanosecond Laser Driver Reference Design for LIDAR. A 3D ToF sensor such as TI's OPT8320 enables robots to determine the exact angle of a screw and then fine-tune the screwdriver so that screws consistently align without human intervention. A ToF-based analog front end such as the OPT3101 can help identify the distance of a robotic arm to a target and help in accurate positioning. For higher-resolution 3D sensing, flexible structured lighting–as enabled with DLP® technology and demonstrated in the 3D Machine Vision Reference Design Based on AM572x Processor with DLP Structured Light–can help bring resolutions to micrometers or below. Temperature and humidity sensors Many robots need to measure the temperature and sometimes the humidity of both their environment and their components– including motors and main AI motherboards–to ensure that they are operating in safe ranges. This is especially important for robots, because when a motor is under a heavy load, it can draw a lot of power and heat up. Accurate temperature monitoring protects motors, while better temperature accuracy enables motors to be driven harder before hitting safety margin limits. In addition, just about every other sensor is sensitive to temperature and benefits from thermal compensation. By knowing the temperature, you can correct for the temperature drift of other sensors to get more accurate measurements. In equatorial factories and in tropical climate zones, temperature and humidity sensors can predict dew points for electronic system protections and predictive maintenance. Ultrasonic Sensors Vision sensors might not work if the robot is blinded by a bright light or finds itself in a very dark environment. By transmitting ultrasonic waves and listening for echoes that reflect back from objects (similar to how bats maneuver), ultrasonic sensors perform excellently in dark or bright conditions, overcoming the limitations of optical sensors. Ultrasonic sensing is a low-cost, slower-speed alternative to radar for robots that don't need to reach high speeds. Ultrasonic sensing is more reliable than optical ToF for obstacle avoidance, as ultrasonic sensing is not affected by the amount of available light reflected off of obstacles. For example, ultrasonic sensing provides the ability to sense glass or other transparent surfaces because it uses sound waves rather than light to detect objects. Vibration Sensors Industrial vibration sensing is a crucial part of the condition monitoring necessary for predictive maintenance. Integrated electronic piezoelectric sensors are the most common vibration sensor used in industrial environments. Vibration sensors enable robots to be aware if some of its mechanics are damaged or aged, facilitating preventive maintenance before operations become endangered. Using AI/ ML can take the accuracy of these predictions to the next level. Cobots are designed to operate safely alongside humans, moving slowly and gracefully. " "