Peniel method for the ultrasonic material identification in robots

In this paper is addressed the development of an ultrasonic sensor for the material identification. This sensor had to be appropriate, in terms of computational cost, in order to be implemented in small robots. This implementation was achieved by a novel signal processing method called Peniel. The associated electronic circuit and the algorithm of this method have as main strengths their circuital simplicity and the low computational cost, respectively. These two characteristics let the sensor to be implemented in two robots of the low cost robotic kit TEAC2H-RI, which was constructed as part of the master thesis of one the authors. The developed system was proved with acrylic, aluminium and glass samples. In the performed experiments those materials were identified with 100% accuracy in all of ten trials. According to the literature review, it is the first time which is achieved the implementation of the ultrasonic material identification in a robotic system.

[1]  K. Ohtani,et al.  An Identification Approach for Object Shapes and Materials Using an Ultrasonic Sensor Array , 2006, 2006 SICE-ICASE International Joint Conference.

[2]  Otman Basir,et al.  Detection of metal, glass and plastic pieces in bottled beverages using ultrasound , 2003 .

[3]  Tat-Hean Gan,et al.  Air-coupled ultrasonic evaluation of food materials , 2007 .

[4]  Konstantinos Christidis,et al.  Material characterization in situ using ultrasound measurements , 2002, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas..

[5]  G.P.P. Gunarathne,et al.  Measurement and monitoring techniques for scale deposits in petroleum pipelines , 1997, IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference Sensing, Processing, Networking. IMTC Proceedings.

[6]  V. Krstelj,et al.  Contribution to classification of buried objects based on acoustic impedance matching. , 2003, Ultrasonics.

[7]  D. R. Bull,et al.  Neural processing of airborne sonar for mobile robot applications , 1991 .

[8]  Demetrio A. Ovalle,et al.  TEAC2H-RI: Educational Robotic Platform for Improving Teaching-Learning Processes of Technology in Developing Countries , 2010, CISSE 2010.

[9]  G.P.P. Gunarathne,et al.  Ultrasonic feature extraction techniques for characterisation and quantification of scales in petroleum pipelines , 1998, 1998 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium. Proceedings (Cat. No. 98CH36102).

[10]  Jovani Alberto Jiménez Builes,et al.  Design and Construction of an Ultrasonic Sensor for the Material Identification in Robotic Agents , 2012 .