Sonar Question

[JoeSkull]

OK so i haven't made a robot yet, but Ive been designing one and i was planning on using sonar.
so i was wondering which would be a good one to get, kinda cheap and lightweight(planning on 4).
also, does anyone have a program suited to a 4 way sensor??
and tell me if there is anything else I should know.


Come on, someone must have used sonar by now!

[MaltiK]

you can buy 4 separate transducers (cheaper less efficient)
or you can buy 4 sonars (more expensive, more efficient)

the SRF05 is my favorite, but many people prefer the Parallax PING))), they are all over the net just do a google search, as for the seperate transducers, they too are all over the net.

[JoeSkull]

you can buy 4 separate transducers (cheaper less efficient)

Whats a tranducer, hows it different/better??

[MaltiK]

srf05




transducers

actually im not sure if theyre called that but theyre a cheaper solution nonetheless

compare the specs:

SRF02 ("transducer" in my terms)
Range - 16cm to 6m.
Power - 5v, 4mA Typ.
Frequency - 40KHz.
Size - 24mm x 20mm x 17mm height.
Analogue Gain - Automatic 64 step gain control
Connection Modes
1 - Standard I2C Bus.
2 - Serial Bus - connects up to 16 devices to any uP or UART serial port
Full Automatic Tuning - No calibration, just power up and go
Timing - Fully timed echo, freeing host controller of task.
Units - Range reported in uS, mm or inches.
Light Weight - 4.6gm


SRF05
Range - 1cm to 4m.
Power - 5v, 4mA Typ.
Frequency - 40KHz.
Size - 43mm x 20mm x 17mm height.

Two operational modes are available, Single pin for trig/echo or 2 Pin SRF04 compatible.

The input Trigger is a 10uS Min. TTL level pulse
Echo Pulse is Positive TTL level signal, with the width proportional to the object range.

[creedcradle]

A transducer is a device that converts energy into sound waves above the normal range of human hearing. With proper signal conditioning thru a microcontroller or some sort of circuit, a digital output can be assigned as "low" or "high".

SONAR is also a transducer and uses the same principle but SONAR are frequently used in underwater navigation.

-creedcradle

[pomprocker]

The analog ones are very easy to interface with, but the digital one (parrallax ping) is very easy to come by (radio shack)

There is also a link to a tutorial in my signature on how to interface with the ping.