Photointerrupter

[rbtying]

I'm looking for a photointerrupter that can be powered off the 5v regulated bus and has an output of a digital HIGH or LOW.   Minimum gap is 2.00mm, I think.  Not too sure how to search mouse/digikey for this kind of thing... help?  Please recommend/give part no.

[macdad-]

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Sharp-Microelectronics/GP1S092HCPIF/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMuIaPd8bG7xI3EgxusZv8xWosBBXHgSmpo%3d

That was the cheapest one with the minimum gap of 2mm.

Here's the full list:
http://www.mouser.com/Optoelectronics/Photointerruptors/_/N-6x5jo/

Just filter out what you require.

[knossos]

Would this work for you?

If not then you can start here at digikey and narrow down what specs you're looking for.

[Soeren]

Hi,

I'm looking for a photointerrupter that can be powered off the 5v regulated bus and has an output of a digital HIGH or LOW.

Then you either need one with a Schmitt-trigger (more expensive) or add a Schmitt-trigger yourself (more work).

You can have slotted optocouplers (SOCs), which they're also called. with the slot up to 4" wide, so 2mm is no problem, but if you need one with a Schmitt-trigger, it narrows down the selection of course.
If you can find a way to use a regular SOC, price and availability gets more to your advantage - if it's for using with a µcontroller, most have a comparator input that could be used.

[rbtying]

I can probably build the trigger, at some point anyway.  Last I remember, they're pretty easy to build with a pair of transistors and a few resistors, but a microcontroller method would be even nicer.  Any links/examples? 

I'm more interested in learning how to read the spec sheets for these things.  For ex: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Sharp-Microelectronics/GP1S092HCPIF/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMuIaPd8bG7xI3EgxusZv8xWosBBXHgSmpo%3d has a listed "Output Collector Emitter Voltage (Detector): 35V" which sounds like it'd easily fry my poor ATMega328. 

Price wise, anything less than $3.00 for two is probably fine with me, and I'll probably get some more random parts to make shipping less pricey. 

The SparkFun one was considered, but it's out of stock, and also pretty expensive. 


Thanks all for quick & helpful responses