Various domestic, commercial and industrial robots have been widely used in the market. These robots need to combine a variety of sensors so that robots can more intelligently judge their position, direction and respond correctly. In the past, these sensors needed to transmit signals in a wired way such that they are subject to some drag and restriction when moving. Wireless transmission technology will be a better technology option. This paper will show you wireless transmission technology for AI robots and related solutions provided by ST.
Contactless wireless transmission for robot assembly and maintenance
A variety of AI robots already exist on the market and can work in different environments such as homes, offices or factories. Their shapes and modes of movement vary. These robots integrate various sensors, such as ultrasonic sensors, camera sensors, motor speed sensors, infrared sensors, gyroscopes, cliff sensors, anti-collision sensors, etc. These various sensors need to transmit collected signals to processors/controllers for subsequent information interpretation and processing. In the past, data were usually transmitted by wired means, resulting in a variety of cables and connectors being filled in the machine. This poses many problems for machine assembly and maintenance.
Besides this, robots operate in harsh conditions. Robots need to operate in harsh environments such as dust, salt and vibration. In case of wired connection, these cables and connectors will easily loosen and harden, and sometimes drag and pull the robot’s own motion. Contactless wireless connection can greatly reduce the machine failure rate and make robots move more freely.
In addition, the use of electronic devices and robots without real connectors can make the design of devices simpler and more fashionable, improve user experience through various contactless accessories, and bring innovative features such as “tap and sync” between devices, and make the assembly of devices easier. If contactless control is used in medical devices, the spread of diseases can also be reduced. Contactless wireless transmission will be a better technology option.
60 GHz RF millimeter wave suitable for short-range contactless connectivity
Wireless transmission of these sensor data is more convenient than wired transmission. Of course, wireless transmission technologies are quite diverse, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee, but how to balance speed and power consumption is a matter of choice. In addition to the radio transmission technology described above, the unprecedented multi-gigabit data rate and relatively low power consumption that do not require a licensed 60GHz RF millimeter wave band opens up new opportunities for short-range contactless connectivity.
The advantage of RF millimeter wave signal transmission is that it uses RF rather than light or sound for signal transmission and is therefore not affected by environmental factors such as smoke, rain and low light, a stable feature that enables it to perform well in both indoor and outdoor applications.
Multiple RF bands are commonly used for millimeter wave transmissions, and the specification of each band varies from region to region, with most RF transmissions using radio bands of 24GHz, 60GHz, and 77GHz. Of these, 24GHz ultra-wide band (UWB) has been banned since September 2018 due to spectrum rules and standards developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC). All existing products using 24GHz UWB must be phased out by 2022 and are therefore no longer suitable for use.
The 77GHz band is commonly used in automotive applications, but in most parts of the world there are limitations in factory, building and urban infrastructure applications, including applications requiring human–machine interaction, while the 60GHz band is not restricted, making 60GHz an ideal band for radio frequency millimeter wave transmission.
ST60 provides high-data and energy-saving wireless links
For RF millimeter wave transmission applications in the 60 GHz band, ST launched the ST60 RF transceiver, which provides high data rates and high energy-saving wireless links, short range (several centimeters) point-to-point communications without physical cables and connectors. Moreover, ST60 provides best-in-class wireless performance with transmission speeds up to 6.25 Gbps and minimal power consumption.
ST60’s unparalleled efficiency, very small form factor and innovative architecture for an optimized bill of materials (BOM), make it ideally suited to a wide range of applications in personal electronics, industrial applications, computers and peripherals. ST60 transceiver connector free solution is a small optimized wireless link transceiver with high data rate, enabling short-range, point-to-point contactless communication breakthroughs. It provides contactless connection between boards, removes flexible cables in electronic devices, or removes cables subject to mechanical stress due to flexing and bending in industrial electronic systems. This connector free solution is especially suitable for waterproof and dustproof wireless devices, and can be used to seamlessly connect mobile devices for data synchronization. It is suitable for harsh industrial environments, avoids environmental disturbances to connector ports, and is suitable for contactless connector solutions for industrial applications.
Low-delay, low-power short-range contactless connected RF transceivers
ST’s ST60A3G1 is a 60GHz radio frequency transceiver A3 series with an antenna-in-package (AiP) with a 60GHz V-band transceiver that enables short, contactless connections up to 480 Mbps with only a low delay of 7ns, lower than the 1ms delay in 5G. It is a compact solution that integrates complete radio frequency transceivers and antennas.
ST60A3G1 can operate in half-duplex mode with a typical total link budget of 44 dB and a free space propagation loss of up to 6 cm. It supports eUSB2, UART, GPIO and I²C RF tunneling and is powered by a single 1.8 V power supply, which requires only 110/130 milliwatts (typical values) for receiving/transmitting using eUSB2 interfaces, 90 mW (typical values) for transmitting using UART/GPIO/I²C interfaces, 13 μW for standby, with an optimized bill of materials, no external matching network and clock reference, and a reference clock that can be used at one end of the RF link to meet specific regional regulatory requirements.
ST60A3G1 is packaged in a VFBGA 2.9 mm x 4.1 mm x 0.8 mm, with 0.4 mm pitch 23-ball miniature form factor, and the transceiver module contains general purpose input/output (GPIO) and is also available in tunneling mode. When combined with ST wireless charging solutions, sensors can be encapsuled in sealed boxes to facilitate operation in a severely harassed environment.
ST60A3G1 can be applied to contactless test factory automation and after-sales service, hole-less personal devices, contactless accessories, docking hubs and data transfer for contactless personal equipment, industrial contactless connectors, board to board connections, and flexible cable replacement.
Conclusion
The use of wireless transmission technology instead of cables and connectors has become a mainstream direction for AI robotics applications to improve the efficiency of robot assembly and maintenance. ST60 series radio frequency transceivers introduced by ST, featuring high transmission speed and low power consumption, can replace cables and connectors in AI robot products and are the best solution for improving the performance of AI robots.