Radar as a key technology for the reliable detection of surroundings.

Smart factories are not a vision for the future but are already a reality to an extent. And robotics plays a major role here. We are referring to autonomous and automated machines that perceive, react to or even interact with their environment. This would not be possible without integrated sensors. They scan the scene and provide the necessary environmental and object-related information.

Industrial robots are taking on ever more complex and extensive work steps in modern production halls. The robot arms are moving with increasing agility and autonomy. The machines no longer rigidly perform a pre-programmed activity but are meant to react flexibly to the individual situation, properties, or environment. With regard to interaction and proximity between man and machine, collision and personal protection are top priority in robotics.

The production plants have to meet ever higher requirements and safety criteria. By utilising sophisticated sensor technology, it is possible to establish reliable protection and navigation mechanisms. This equips robots for free movement or sudden changes in the space, as well as for performing precise movements and accurate positioning. The decisive factor here is ensuring precise and completely reliable distance detection. Because errors result in production downtime or injuries, which can prove costly for an industrial company.

Safe, accurate, fast, and individual…

… when used with robotics, we expect amazing feats by this technology. At the moment, however, some situations are still cause problems for the environmental sensors. For example, the two-dimensional detection of surroundings does not protect the machine against collisions with protruding objects, solutions with pre-programmed maps of the surroundings fail in the event of spontaneous obstacles, and the sensor equipment has trouble in rough environments or in a skew position.

Radar boasts great potential to meet the challenges of robot applications.  Further developments are just taking off as the interest on the market is growing tremendously. Because the application possibilities are very diverse. Finally, technical advances are enabling the required performance and functionality to be achieved at attractive prices.

In the starting blocks, ready for practical use

What all technology is capable of has been being demonstrated for many years in the automotive industry. High-resolution and integrated radar assistance systems are being used in this field, thus contributing to safe and even autonomous driving. The industrial sector and robotics are benefiting from the developments, because this technical finesse can also be harnessed in factories.  Like vehicles on the road, smart factory industrial robots are integrated in a complex and highly frequented environment and have to keep track of everything and be fast at responding to events in their vicinity.

InnoSenT has been contributing to advancing further developments in the field of radar for years. With the possibility of combining sensors, the use of higher frequencies and improvements in resolution, radar is now ideally positioned for robotics applications. Innovative radar products equipped with incredibly fast signal processing, intelligent algorithms, precise measurement and object differentiation are ready to consign previous sensor solutions to history.

The advantages of radar for the field of robotics

Radar measurement technology has already become established in many parts of our lives. It measures speed, direction of movement, distances, and the angular position of persons or objects. Radar allows objects to be precisely positioned. This technology’s means of measurement also works independently of environmental conditions such as light or weather conditions, making it very reliable.

Radar sensors differentiate objects based on four characteristics: speed, distance, and angle offset in azimuth and in elevation. This enables three-dimensional environment detection. The radar sensors have a higher tolerance to tilting or skew positions than laser scanners. These are important aspects, especially if the sensors are recording data for navigation or collision protection for autonomously operating or driving machines.

Moreover, high-resolution radar detection provides high-quality measurement results that enable robots to achieve millimetre-precise positioning and reliable evasive manoeuvres during navigation. The extensive data is also useful for statistical assessments and extends the functionality. For instance, the sensors can be used not only for protection but also for non-contact control.

Radar detects objects using electromagnetic waves that are emitted by the antenna and reflected by objects or people. These spread out at the speed of light. The sensor thus continuously receives new information and detects minuscule changes in the environment. Thanks to advances in signal processing, the radar systems boast extremely fast measuring cycles. In the event of a short time-to-collision, this is a decisive factor, because this way the machines react to an impending collision early on and better than a human. Through their complex signal analysis, advanced radar solutions also have a tracking and object classification function. The sensor thus learns whether it is detecting a person or an object. In addition, the movement history of the detected targets can be mapped.

Another advantage of radar technology is its range and the adjustable detection area. This way, the view of the sensor is individually designed to meet the requirements of the use case. That also enables flexible mounting, with no restrictions due to blind spots. For example, some radar sensors have a wide field of view and medium range to monitor the immediate area around a machine or even act as a substitute for a protective fence. Others, in turn, detect objects already from a long distance. This allows an entire factory building to be monitored. A narrow radar beam is useful for precise positioning. The decisive factor for the field of View is the antenna design, which the radar developers optimise in advance depending on the subsequent intended use.

Radar measurement technology also boasts several useful properties: the data are anonymous, because it does not produce a visual, detailed image like video cameras do. Radar is ideally suited for outdoor applications, since darkness, light reflections as well as snow, rain, ice, fog, or wind cannot cause detection failure. Even challenging industrial environments containing dust, dirt, aggressive materials, or extreme temperatures are no problem for radar.

All the features of radar technology optimally equip the sensors for use in the field of robotics. Machines such as AGVs, cranes, forklifts, off-road vehicles, robot arms, rail vehicles, transport vehicles, and stationary production machines benefit from having a reliable all-round view.

The future of industrial robotics sees with radar

The course has been set, and further technological development has paved the way for radar to be used in robotics. And the full potential of measurement technology is far from exhausted – already now, intense research is bearing fruit in revealing promising approaches for the future. Radar sensors are also benefiting from advances in related technology areas, such as chip technology, artificial intelligence, and software programming. The experts at InnoSenT are working hard to get more out of radar detection. For many years, the company has been involved in exciting funding projects and has been contributing its radar expertise – in the robotics and industrial sectors, such as in the research programmes Netguard6P, Charm, and RoboMove3D. However, InnoSenT is also continuously advancing its own product development for robotics and safety.

picture: © Pugun & Photo Studio by adobe stock

Robotics, automation, safety & collision protection

With industrial robots, more and more sensors are finding their way into modern factories. By detecting the environment and events, they enable safe interaction between man and machine and protect against collisions. Without the integration of sensors, machines or robots cannot react to their environment. Typical applications are automation, personal protection, navigation, positioning, autonomous vehicles and collision protection. Radar offers three-dimensional environment detection and reliable, precise detection in harsh industrial environments.