proximity detection

[purple321]

hello,

i am looking for the technologies which allow a moving object (robot) to detect any objects in its path. any ideas?
i know there are sonar devices out there and infared though not sure if these work while moving.

thanks

 

[philba]

why wouldn't they work? You will have more problems from all the electrical noise (motors, other sensors) than anything else. lots of robots use those kinds of sensors while moving with few problems.

 

[purple321]

ok, thanks philba.
What kind of sensors are these and any ideas where I could get them?

 

[Jevon]

IR is cheap(both transmitter and detector) and does the job for most simple prox. sensoring. Most electronic component stores will have them. how far do you need to sense?

 

[philba]

there are lots of plans for building ultrasonic rangers. Also, several outfits make complete units. parallax ping springs to mind but there are others.

For IR, look at the sharp gp2d12 IR distance sensors. That is just one in a whole family with different characteristics. Many web pages with info on these and the sharp datasheets are worth looking at. google is your friend.

Yes, you can build your own IR sensors too though I suspect from your post that you would be better served with complete units.

 

[Tracy Walker]

Try googling robotics sensor or whatever. Loads of info out there.

 

[ombrastein]

Proximety sensors

I would sugest looking at the SRF modules from Devantech. They have a very easy to use i2c interface. Ive used them for several projects so far. They use ultrasound echos to measure range. It has the ability to adjus physical parameters about the soundpulses that is send out. You can change the power, timing, etc. Works well for me at least.

Of course its always a good idea to have a welldesigned bumper in adition as a last resort. First design a sturdy bumper that can absorb a colision at full speed, and then add some microswitches or somthing to detect the impact.

Good luck,
Magnum

 

[ikalogic]

Hello, here is a simple tutorial that explains a unique technologie to build cheap IR proximity sensors..

**broken link removed**