Mobile robots benefit from some form of bumper or obstacle detection system to avoid damage themselves or their surroundings. This design detects obstacles by scanning the area with IR beams.
A semicircular array of IR LEDs driven by a microcontroller sends out a sequence of IR pulses. An IR receiver with a wide receiving aperture detects any reflected IR light from obstacles in the illuminated area. The receiver has a digital output so that it either detects the presence of reflected light or not. The microcontroller knows from tim¬ing information which of the IR diodes sent out the detected light pulse and therefore in which direction the obstacle is.
We can build a special interface to the scanner hardware but why not use one that’s already available?
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Read more? Download the full article for free as a PDF file in the 'Attachment' section below. Lots of fun with this project!
- on Robotics & AI
Post Project No. 66: Fast IR Robot Bumper
November 4, 2015 | 15:09
This design is useful for speedy mobile robots and provides fast, contactless detection of obstacles ahead. Not only can it detect the obstacle, it also indicates in which direction it is. The project has a liberal sprinkling of both hardware and software sorcery.