Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
ThereminVision Sensor: Robot Proximity Detection
ThereminVision is a robotic sensing system that uses the same basic principle as the world's first electronic musical instrument, the Theremin. The Theremin is played by moving your hands through the air between two antennae; the capacitance of these very sensitive antennae is varied depending on where your hands are. Oscillators pick up the minute variations in capacitance caused by the hand movements.
(From RobotlandInc.com)
Here's how ThereminVision works:
ThereminVision is a modernized and simplified version of the theremin with all digital circuits. The system can very quickly scan the area around and detect capacitance changes on the antennas around a robot. Each of four antennas can be selected by a microcontrollor and the resulting relative antenna capacitance is returned to the processor in the form of a variable pulse width. As an object nears a given antenna, the increasing capacitance causes the pulse width of the signal to the processor to decrease and visa-versa.
Human beings effortlessly detect objects in their path, and the edges of those objects. Equipping a robot to do this is challenging. Many systems are built to rely on the same sense that humans rely on the most - vision. For example, the robot crab of William Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer uses bursts of light to "see" objects in its path. The ThereminVision system uses an entirely different sense to help a robot "see" an object.
Read the ThereminVision-II Instruction Manual; see ThereminVision Sensor for links to forums and other discussions on this topic.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/3/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Drones In Vast Airborne Grids
'These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern...'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...' - Philip K. Dick, 1955.
Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated?
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.' - AG Stangland, 1929.
Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way
'The automatic massager began to fumble gently...' - AE van Vogt, 1944.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards
'...they moved with the ease of dandelion puffs.'
Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...'
Prufrock-3 'The Monster' Ready To Launch
Just go for it.
Drones In Vast Airborne Grids
'These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern...'
Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Love those special edition spaceships.
Capturing Asteroids With Nets
'...the meteor caught and halted just as a small boy catches a swift ball in his cap.'
Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
'We have decided that it shall be but one ship... it must contain everything needed to take us through the generations.'
AI Welfare Position At Anthropic Filled By Human
'You’re the robopsychologist of the plant, so you’re to study the robot itself...'
Marslink Proposed By SpaceX
'It was the heart of the Solar System's communication line...'
Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Wood-Panelled LignoSat Launched
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
Laser-Beam Welding In Orbital Factories
'His contract with Space Industries required him to work summers in their orbital factory.'
'Iceberg House' Of Travis Kelce Reflects Science Fiction Of Past Century
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock that folded up to underlie the ridge...'
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
