Newbie/Novice in need of help

hey all
i saw this circuit diagram (infra-red emitter/detecter) on another site and was wondering if it actually works i tested it and as far as i know it works but im having trouble hooking up motors. (im making a line following robot). i WAS going to use a PIC but time got the better of me.
i think that i may need a comparator IC LM239n or motor driver of some sort... :? :?
thx in advance.


**broken link removed**

xombie said:

hey all
i saw this circuit diagram (infra-red emitter/detecter) on another site and was wondering if it actually works i tested it and as far as i know it works but im having trouble hooking up motors. (im making a line following robot). i WAS going to use a PIC but time got the better of me.
i think that i may need a comparator IC LM239n or motor driver of some sort... :? :?
thx in advance.


**broken link removed**

Click to expand...

The circuit looks fine, you can actually buy ready made ones, with both LED and photo-transistor in a single encapsulation - they are commonly used in many VCR's for detecting turntable rotation.

I build this before. It's really not that good of a circuit even though it works. Since it's not modulated it is really useless when theres too much ambient light around. I had to turn off all my lights and my monitor to get it to work reliably. I would suggest you try and modulate it if your going to use it for a line following robot.

You won't be able to drive a motor directaly from the output of that, you'll need to use a transistor or a motor driver for that.

vaineo said:

You won't be able to drive a motor directaly from the output of that, you'll need to use a transistor or a motor driver for that.

Click to expand...

beat you to it, i tried a transistor the day i posted the question, and got it working too.

thx for your help guys!