Smart Sensors and Their Applications

Mechatronics Engineering (OFRME200) - Lecture 6

• Course: Mechatronics Engineering (OFRME200)
• Lecture: 6
• Level: 2, Fall Semester
• Instructor: Walaa Shoeib
• University: Menoufia University, Faculty of Electronic Engineering

Chapter 3: Modern & Medical Sensors

• This chapter focuses on various sensors.
• Examples of sensors are shown in the slide.

Smart and Wearable Sensors in Modern Applications

Smart Cities

• Smart parking system: Monitors parked vehicles to improve traffic flow.
• Building structural health: Monitors vibrations and conditions of buildings, bridges, etc. to assess health and strength.
• Smart traffic management: Monitors road congestion to optimize traffic flow.
• Smart waste management: Detects full trash containers, manages trash segregation, and optimizes trash collection routes.
• Smart streetlight systems: Adjust streetlight settings based on daylight intensity.

Smart Environment

• Forest fire detection: Sensors for early detection of forest fires.
• Air pollution: Sensors to monitor and measure air pollution levels.

Smart Water Management System

• Underground water leakages: Sensors to detect and locate leaks.
• Flood monitoring: Sensors to track and monitor flood levels.
• Smart water meters: Sensors to measure water consumption.

Smart Agriculture

• Various sensors for monitoring temperature, humidity, water quality, soil conditions, rainfall, and sunshine.
• Sensors are used in smart water management systems.

Smart Homes

• Smart home automation systems.

Smart Factories

• Various sensors used for factory automation.

Wearable Devices

• Various applications for health monitoring, such as heart monitoring, sweat monitoring, cancer detection, and Alzheimer's and Dementia prediction.
• Wearable artificial kidney.

Predicting the Progress of Alzheimer's and Dementia Diseases

• Cognitive, behavioral, sensory, and motor changes in patients need to be monitored.
• Wearable devices can track the data, and the data can be analyzed to help understand diseases.
• This includes smart rings/lockets, smart watches/bands, smart phones/tablets, and sensor patches/sensors in clothes.

Smart Stick for the Visually Impaired

• Initially, visually impaired people used a stick to identify obstacles.
• This could be dangerous in some cases, as they could not identify distant obstacles or approaching vehicles.
• A smart stick was introduced to address this deficiency, aiding in obstacle identification and providing an alert when an object or vehicle approaches the user.
• This smart stick incorporates sensors like ultrasonic sensors, LDR, water sensors, and a GPS module to provide enhanced features like detecting ups and downs (e.g., stairs, slopes), and finding the location of the stick via the GPS module.

Sensor Technologies Combined with AI in Smart Transport Systems

• Sensor technologies are combining with AI to improve smart transport systems.

• The levels of automation progress from level 0 (fully manual control) to level 5 (completely self-driving in all situations).

• The progress includes level 1 (automation began with braking systems), level 2 (acceleration and steering control that needs human input), level 3 (safety-critical functions can be managed, but still require human input), level 4 (all driving tasks under certain conditions but still require human intervention if needed), to level 5 (completely self-driving).

• This includes GPS sensors, LiDAR sensors, video cameras, radar sensors, and ultrasonic sensors in the various transport modules.

• LiDAR and GPS are crucial for location and position determination.

• Video cameras capture real-time data, while radar sensors assist with object detection and ranging.

• Ultrasonic sensors are primarily used for parking applications.

GPS Sensor

• GPS is a satellite-based navigation system employing several sensors.

LiDAR

• Modern digital cameras and ordinary sensors might not pick up all data in all conditions.
• LiDAR (light detection and ranging), using light signals from objects, helps driverless cars with location assistance.
• Objects, including animals, humans, plants, and other animate and inanimate objects, are identified by LiDAR based on their unique light properties.

Cameras

• Many cameras are used in driverless cars, capable of capturing real-time visual data.

Radar Sensors

• Radar sensors use radio waves for sensing and ranging and are used for object detection, location, and ranging, thereby improving automated functions.

Ultrasonic Sensors

• Ultrasonic sensors mainly help in parking applications.

Chapter 5: Microcontroller Structure

Registers

• Instruction register (IR): Stores instructions after retrieval from memory.
• Program counter (PC): Keeps track of the next instruction address.
• Memory address register.
• Accumulator register.

Memory

• The memory unit stores binary data, which can be programs, instructions, or the numbers being used in computations.
• The memory size is defined by the number of wires in the address bus.

The storage cells are grouped into locations. Each location can store one word.

Types of Memory

• ROM (Read-Only Memory)
• PROM (Programmable ROM)
• EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM)
• EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM)

Read-only Memory (ROM)

• ROM permanently stores data.
• ROMs are programmed at the time of manufacturing integrated circuits.
• Data is read-only; it cannot be written into.

Erasable and Programmable ROM (EPROM)

• EPROM can be programmed, and its stored content can be altered.
• The pattern stored remains until erased by ultraviolet light.

Electrically Enable PROM (EEPROM)

• EEPROM is similar to EPROM but uses electric voltage for erasure.

Random-Access Memory (RAM)

• RAM is temporary storage for data.

Open Loop Control System

• System output depends only on the input without feedback.
• Control effect is calculated without knowing the state of the controlled variable, which avoids feedback loops.
• Simple and cost-effective but unable to adjust the actual output.

Closed Loop Control System

• System uses feedback to ensure accuracy.
• Components work together to detect and correct actual displacement against command values.
• High positioning accuracy but more complex, expensive, and harder to debug and maintain.

Components of Mechatronics Systems

• Actuators
• Mechanics and Energy Converter
• Sensors
• Input Signal Conditioning and Interfacing
• Output Signal Conditioning and Interfacing
• Graphical Displays
• Digital Control Architectures