Optical Tracking Method for Mechatronic Systems

Determining the position is one of the important requirements of the mechatronic systems. Various types of transducers and different types of solutions are used to determine the position, among which the most advanced are the ones based in the optical principles. The optical systems allow determining the position in more coordinates and have the advantage of a high accuracy in conditions when direct contact is avoided. This paper presents a few solutions for determining the position by using electronic system usually used at the mouse device. The main advantages of such a system are the high accuracy (which is steadily growing), determining the position in two coordinates, very low mechanical wear, the low price, digital processing of information. The main disadvantage of such a system is the fact that the sensor requires a perfectly flat surface and a particular type of surface. The solutions currently used are applied for different types of robots that can move on flat surfaces. This paper presents a solution for the positioning of a stand in which the sensor is positioned on the opposite surface of the active surface. In this way you can ensure the necessary conditions to protect the sensor, and the necessary quality of the surface needed by it. This way, the active surface can be used for different purposes, because the surface is not necessarily flat (e.g. holding devices) Another solution presented is that of a positioning system for two mechanical hands designed for manipulating pieces on a chessboard. Such a system provides three axis of reference, the sensor being placed on hand tools. The signal from the optical sensor is taken over by a computer system built with a microcontroller. The micro system provides the signal processing and develops the controls for the actuators.