Electronics > Electronics

How many HC-SR04 sensors

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headingwest:
Hi All,

My first attempt at a robot has 2 ultrasonic sensors slightly off to the left and right. They are run by a Picaxe 20X2 and the robot is managed by an IOIO / Android. They seem to work... sometimes. I always get a good signal when the robot is idle or being tested, but when it zooms across the room it tends to have a lot of crashes.

Can anyone guide me on a good number of sensors and where it's effective to place them please?

Thanks for your help, Jim.

waltr:

--- Quote ---but when it zooms across the room it tends to have a lot of crashes
--- End quote ---

The robot 'crashes' into objects?
or the processors 'crash'?

Are any of the wires getting loose when the robot moves? Vibrations can cause this.

headingwest:
So far I've only tested in our lounge room which has plenty of soft furnishings. But I guess the sensors often fail to see chair legs (30mm wide), angled surfaces and soft furniture.

My guess is I need a 3rd sensor facing directly forward as well.

waltr:
Soft and narrow objects can be a problem with the US sensors.
It can still be a a loose wire or other problem so try setting up a controlled environment to pin point the issues.
Even some cardboard set up as walls would be helpful to determine if the sensors and code is working or if there is a hardware problem.

jwatte:
Also, only run one sensor at a time! Wait some amount of time (say, 30-50 milliseconds) before running the other sensor, and do them ping-pong style, else you may get crosstalk.
You can mount them so they sense in an "X" pattern -- turn the leftmost to face right, and rightmost to face left. This gives you some amount of "center" sensing, hopefully enough to avoid a crash.
Also, try going slowly, not allowing a very fast top speed, until it's all tuned and working well. Then slowly increase max speed.

Finally, to compensate for the shortcomings of US sensors, you can also use a Sharp IR sensor, which works great for soft textiles, but is narrower in its sensing pattern. I use both on my rover robot.

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