Perception layer: The initial source of information for industrial robots

The sensor is the “sensing organ” of the robot and the information source for the robot to interact with the environment and move accurately. The sensor is used to sense and collect various information, and converts the measured information into useful signals that are easy to transmit and process according to certain rules. The sensor is usually composed of a sensitive element and a conversion element, in which the sensitive element refers to the part of the sensor that directly senses the measured quantity, and the conversion element refers to the part where the sensor can convert the output of the sensitive element into an electrical signal suitable for transmission and processing. The sensor is generally divided into internal and external sensors, and the internal sensor mainly measures the internal system status of the robot, such as temperature, speed, voltage, etc. External sensors mainly measure the information of the external environment, including position sensors, speed sensors, force sensors, vision sensors, etc.

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The size of the robot sensor market is growing steadily, and the market concentration is low. According to Mordor Intelligence, the global robotic sensor market size is expected to rise from $616 million in 2023 to $924 million in 2028, with a CAGR of 8.4% in 2024-2028. The major players in the robot sensor market come from many companies in different countries around the world, including the Swiss Baomeng Group and Tyco Electronics; American ATI, Tekscan, Futek, Sensata, Honeywell; Japan Fanuc, TDK, Omron Group, etc.

Force sensor is an important sensor of industrial robot, and ABB integrated force control technology is one of the main technologies of force sensor. Most industrial robots are in the form of mechanical arms, which are composed of the robot’s power joints and connecting rods. The force sensor can monitor and feedback the force on the robot arms in real time. With the development of robots to intelligence, the demand for flexible control of interaction with the outside world is higher, and higher requirements are put forward for force control technology. In order to improve the flexibility and accuracy of sensors, ABB successfully developed integrated force control technology in 2014, based on this technology, ABB offers three integrated force control sensors compatible with most of its IRB 140 to IRB 6700 industrial robots. Robots equipped with this technology can respond to subtle changes in the manufacturing process based on real-time external feedback signals, handle fragile items or perform precision tasks like humans, and programming time can be reduced.