The Ability Of Sensors Placed On An Arduino Robot To Detect Objects From Different Distances

A robot is an automatic mechanical device often resembling a human or animal. Modern robots are usually an electro-mechanical machine guided by a computer program or electronic circuitry. Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and range from simple, collectively programmed, industrial robots to more complex robots such as those used in the medical field. To perform the tasks given to them, robots utilize different sensors that are placed on various parts of the robot. The purpose of this study was to analyze the efficiency of two of the mostly used sensors in the field of robotics: ultrasonic sensors and infrared sensors. To test which of two sensors is more efficient, an object was placed in front of each sensor and the ratio of detected trials to undetected trials was recorded. It was hypothesized that, if the accuracy of the ultrasonic and infrared sensors is compared at the shorter distance of five feet, the infrared sensor would have a higher ratio of detected to undetected object. Conversely, it was also hypothesized that if the two sensors were tested at the longer distance of fifteen feet, then the ultrasonic sensor would have a higher ratio of detected to undetected object. The data for all 120 trials was analyzed in a 2x2 contigency table using Fisher’s exact test. The hypothesis in favor of the infrared sensor being used at a shorter distance was supported. At α = 0.05, with a ratio of 19:11, p=0.0191. Furthermore, hypothesis in favor of the ultrasonic sensor being used at a longer distance was also supported. At α = 0.05, with a ratio of 22:8, p=0.0182. In conclusion, it is determined that the infrared sensor is more efficient when used in a shorter range while the ultrasonic sensor is more efficient when used at a longer range