Building ir sensor, and atmel or pic?

[futurrobotech]

okay so i ran across this http://www.societyofrobots.com/schematics_infraredemitdet.shtml and it looks like its isnt that difficult to build and is a lot cheaper then buying it off the shelf for $10(I'm guessing its atleast under two bucks or each sensor built?), and also one more question. In the schematic would Vcc come from the positive or negative of the battery? I'm guessing ground would go to negative but this is something that is all of a suddenly giving me a hard time.

[Metal Slug 2]

It depends.  If you are just making one sensor, buying the parts will cost only ~$1-2.  But if you are buying them online you will have to pay for shipping/handling etc.

Your right, Vcc goes to the positive lead of the battery, ground goes to negative.

[futurrobotech]

I was planning to buy five of them.. so in the end I think I'll be better off simply building them.. Why? Cost total $10 vs. $50.. Total time to build a circuit(haven't soldered in a while), but maybe 5 to 10 minutes.. Then I might have to do a little troubleshooting but I feel like its worth saving money considering after shipping I should be saving at least $30 and more than likely more because of buying components from the supplier. Yes I understand that homemade sensors won't have the range of off the shelf. But I feel that its worth it.. People who have experience with doing this *Admin* describing how well it worked would be nice