Integrated photo and acceleration sensing module for robot planning and control

A modular sensor, which may jointly include photo and acceleration sensors with feedback mechanisms to improve performance, is designed to be integrated on a single CMOS chip. We describe some components of the modular sensor and the feedback control mechanism, which is synthesized from the available and permissible electronic building blocks. We then discuss the performance of the controlled sensors necessary to demonstrate reliability and repeatability of the modular sensors. These modular sensors are intended for a hierarchical and distributed control strategy by placing multiple modular sensors in key locations or throughout the surface of a robot in order to facilitate and reduce the computational effort in a global control strategy for trajectory planning, obstacle avoidance, and navigation