Robot Sensors

In the broadest definition, a sensor is an object whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment, and then provide a corresponding output. A sensor is a type of transducer; sensors may provide various types of output, but typically use electrical or optical signals. For example, a thermocouple generates a known voltage in response to its temperature. A mercury-in-glass thermometer, similarly, converts measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid, which can be read on a calibrated glass tube.

A good sensor obeys the following rules:

• it is sensitive to the measured property,
• it is insensitive to any other property likely to be encountered in its application, and
• it does not influence the measured property.

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