Panasonic develops motion sensing unit for Robots

News Hour:

Panasonic Corporation announced today that it has developed a “Motion Sensing Unit” that performs orientation detection and position estimation for industrial and service robots.

In addition to an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor that employ silicon Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) detector elements, this new unit incorporates Panasonic’s own algorithms that take advantage of these sensors, enabling highly accurate detection of orientation and positioning information.

With the expanding need for labor-saving measures, manufacturing automation, and technology to support aging populations, the market for robotics, including industrial and service robots, is growing rapidly.

PANASONIC’S MOTION SENSING UNIT HAS THE FOLLOWING FEATURES:

1. High-speed output of high-precision orientation information based on the development of proprietary algorithms and technology for processing detector elements
2. Ability to have preset parameters according to the customer’s application
3. Correspondence to six-axis detection algorithms for three rectilinear and three rotational movement in XYZ directions

There is a pressing need to efficiently develop highly accurate orientation detection for robots along with functions such as position estimation, in a short period of time. The newly developed motion sensing unit enables high-precision sensing as it incorporates algorithms and parameter settings.

The Motion Sensing Unit can be used for Vibration suppression, anomaly detection, orientation control detection, and position estimation for autonomous industrial (non-automotive) mechanical systems including industrial robots, service robots, heavy equipment, agricultural machinery, and amusement arcade equipment.