How do you make your robotics sensors and actuators easy to use?

Selecting compatible hardware for seamless integration of sensors and actuators involves assessing the specifications and requirements of the devices vis-à-vis your robot platform and controller. Verify factors like voltage, current, communication protocol, and connector type. Consider physical dimensions, weight, and mounting possibilities. Prioritize hardware tailored for robotics or offering readily available libraries and drivers for your chosen programming language, streamlining the implementation process and enhancing usability.

There are some key aspects to keep in mind to make engineer's life easier when integrating hardware: - Good documentation: Integrators should be able to use your hardware with the provided documents (datasheets, manuals, etc), without having to call for technical support. - Providing APIs, libraries, or example code snippets is essential, especially when configuration is required to use the hardware. - Provide two or three power options and communication protocols. As an integrator, it can be frustrating to discover that the perfect sensor for the application doesn't use the same standards you are using. - Factory calibrated equipment is easier to use. If impossible, provide calibration examples, libraries or APIs to simplify this process.

While hardware development has become more iterative, the pace is slower than software. A suboptimal selection of hardware may delay the delivery, hinder satisfying requirements, and decrease the sustainability of software development. Some factors to consider: - Software support: Does the sensor work with standard drivers? Is there a software library? Could licensing be an issue? - Physical properties: Is the size and weight right? How is the sensor mounted or soldered? - Power consumption: Less power consumption is better, but at what cost? - Standards compliance: Is the sensor graded for the right domain, e.g. automotive or aerospace? - Computational power: Does the sensor have the capacity to handle current and future tasks?

Employing standard interfaces significantly streamlines the integration of sensors into applications, aligning with both the context and technical specifications of your project. In prototyping, the priority is often on simplicity and speed, enabling quick iterations and testing. For product development, the focus shifts to easing the workload for software and hardware teams. This approach fosters the creation of reliable solutions without overburdening the team. From my experience, the key lies in facilitating a smooth and efficient integration process, which standard interfaces remarkably support

Satisfying user expectations increases the adoption rate of your sensor. But what happens if you must deviate from the norm? Reasons may include: - Hardware costs: An extra chip you can't afford - Space limitations: Not enough IO pins - Memory footprint: Overhead may be too large - Computational constraints: Your maximum clock rate might be too low - Simplicity: Keeping things simple and stupid may be ultimately better - Performance: Avoid overhead Here's what you can do to alleviate challenges related to custom interfaces or protocols: - Hardware reference designs: Show how to include your sensor - Software library: Make it simple to integrate - Software examples: Make it very simple to use - Developer support: Promptly answer questions

Writing software for sensors does not differ much from other domains. Follow best practices and know your audience. When creating an API for hardware: - Avoid obscure terms or abbreviations: Function calls that look like someone's WiFi password are not readable just because they are short - Make wrong code hard to write: Choose design patterns (e.g. dependency injection) and data structures (e.g. std::expected in C++) that make misuse ideally impossible - Make common scenaria easy: Offer "helpers" or simple examples for the primary use cases - Do not reveal more than you must: Do not expose implementation details or show them only to the experts - Do not assume hardware knowledge: Should an Electrical Engineering degree be a prerequisite?

Utilize simulation tools like Webots to predict your robot's behavior in specific environments. Ensure your sensors provide accurate data and the actuators match the required actions. While simulation is crucial, don't overlook aspects it doesn't cover, such as electrical circuitry, which are vital for overall functionality.

In my work, I've learned it's really important to catch problems early to avoid big downtime. It helps a lot to set up your system to give warnings in the logs. This way, you can figure out small issues before they turn into expensive problems. Also, make sure you can fix things easily, and if possible, set up your system so you can troubleshoot from a distance. This makes fixing problems faster and can save a lot of money.

Once your system goes into production and gets distributed globally, you should ensure it works and even deliver new features. Long gone are the days you'd ship something and forget about it. Nowadays, you monitor, diagnose, and update your system. Some necessary functionality: - Connectivity: Can you, cost-efficiently, transmit data from the field while respecting your user's privacy? - Error reporting: How do you know something went wrong? - Diagnostics: Do you collect enough information to understand the root cause of an error? - Telematics: Do you observe enough indicators to monitor the health of your system? - Over-The-Air (OTA) updates: Can you reliably fix errors or introduce features without tedious effort?

The development of sensors sits between the physical and digital worlds. Slow manufacturing or component shortages are just the tip of the iceberg. Make your sensor easy to integrate with large systems: - Provide Reference designs - Follow common standards ranging from the communication buses to package footprints - Maintain a package support for popular CAD software - Offer a through-hole component Do not expect others to reinvent the wheel: - Keep the API simple but allow advanced users to go deeper - A Python module will make many developers grateful - Keep dependencies easily manageable and use a permissive open-source license Despite the challenges, developing hardware is very rewarding as you see "real world" results.