Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: ematt on August 23, 2009, 05:10:26 PM

Title: Choosing a Distance Sensor
Post by: ematt on August 23, 2009, 05:10:26 PM

Hi there,

I'm not actually making a robot (although you could say I'm making a cyborg). I'm working on a device that would help blind people avoid obstacles, and I was hoping some people could give me advice on distance sensors. . The way it's set up now, an ultrasonic distance sensor mounted on a hat sends readings to an arduino. The arduino then controls a bunch of little vibrating motors stuck to the person's back - the closer an object is, the more the motors vibrate.

The sensor I'm using now is the Maxbotics LV-MaxSonar-EZ1 range finder. I like that it has a long range and gives very consistent readings, but I think the beam angle is too wide for this application. I would like the device to allow someone to "see" a doorway from several feet away, but this sensor doesn't work well for detecting small gaps. Some of the other sensors in the EZ line have slightly narrower beam widths, but I'm not sure if they would make a significant difference.

I was looking at some IR and triangulation-based distance sensors, but most of them seem to have a pretty short range. One that looks good is the Sharp GP2Y3A003K0F, which has a 3 meter range and 5 separate sensor beams. (http://www.sharpsma.com/Page.aspx/americas/en/part/GP2Y3A003K0F/)
 Does anyone have experience with this particular sensor, or triangulation sensors in general?

Any suggestions for other sensors that have a range greater than 2 meters or so, and a narrow beam? Sensors with multiple beams also look like they could be very useful.

I wish I could buy and test out all different sorts of distance sensors, but unfortunately I am a high school student with a very limited budget, so I would really appreciate advice on what to try.

Thanks!

Title: Re: Choosing a Distance Sensor
Post by: paulstreats on August 23, 2009, 05:22:06 PM

the Sharp GP2Y0A700K has a range between 1m and 5.5m.
You could always use a smaller sharp sensor to detect ranges below 1m.

The downside of this is that the GP2Y0A700K is quite bulky

Title: Re: Choosing a Distance Sensor
Post by: ematt on August 25, 2009, 08:54:03 AM

Thanks, I'll take a look at it.