Hello fellow robot enthusiasts,
I need some help. I would like to build - from scratch - the device listed above. Though I have endeavored to find this information on the infallible database known as "the Internet," my efforts have returned to me fruitless. I ha e found many tutorials on how to build a simple IR range sensor, but these tutorials stop there, and offer no information beneficial to improving the function of the sensor. That being said, I would like to know if someone can walk me through the construction of this circuit.
Your assistance is appreciated and admired,
Camerity
How much more complex do you
How much more complex do you want?
In real world numbers, please tell me what you would like to detect.
If you want a long range IR sensor, SparkFun has the LIDAR Lite for $89 (US).
Well, all of the diy
Well, all of the diy examples I have come across thus far have a range of - on average - 6" to 15". For my purposes, a sensor with the range of the LIDAR Lite would be perfect. In fact, the higher the better. However, as I said, I am wanting to build this device, not simply buy it. Do you understand?
Why do you want to build
Why do you want to build it?
You should look at the datasheets of the LIDAR Lite to see what hoops they had to go through. I understand wanting to do things yourself, but it might take thousands of dollars and hundreds of man-hours to make an affordable sensor.
Do you have some specialty that would allow you to make a clock accurate enough to measure a laser’s return timing? Or do you have other ways of doing this in mind? I’m willing to brainstorm for an open hardware/software project, but not for a closed system (that is, without getting paid my consultanting fee).
If you want something long range and decent detection abilities, a pair of camera arranged as a stereo pair could do it. With an IR camera for really dim light.
I have a couple rotating laser systems, but they aren’t useful in the long range or in direct daylight.
Clarification
Firstly, I would like to thank everyone here who is trying to help for your assistance and patience. It means a whole lot to me as someone who has a deep interest in the field of digital electronics and especially robotics, but who also has a tough time grasping these things. Indeed, I consider myself a drudge, not a genius.
Next, I would like to clarify the design constraints of my project here, as I understand I did not originally provide much to go off of and indeed that can be frustrating (though I would appreciate it if some avoided employing discourtesy in their replies).
What I am attempting to do is build a turret. This turret will be for indoor and outdoor application. Once set up, the turret “head” will rotate (optimal degrees of rotation are not yet known, though I am leaning towards 360 degrees initial condition). At this point, the turret is monitoring for movement.
This is where the sensors come into play. They will need to detect foreign movement, target the object that is moving, and therefore “follow” said object (remain locked on). To best fit my design constraints, my goal is for this turret to be both as accurate as possible, and for it to detect moving object from a far distance (say, 50 meters).
This turret will be wireless, and in a thick-wooded area I would like to be able to communicate with this turret from distances of up to, perhaps, a mile (though the communication/wireless aspect of this project will be another obstacle entirely that I will focus on later).
I would like to build the sensor mainly for cost reasons, and with that, to learn. I am open to other sensor types should they better serve this design.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Update
Thank you guys for the help!
Okay, so after doing some research that branches out from my original design, and considering your advice, it seems that for my purposes a camera is the way to go. I recently found in my garage a CCTV security camera I had picked up last year. It is a Panvigor model: PV-420DN. Does anyone have experience with CCTV? If so, is this a more viable option for this project? The lens is an auto-iris 3.5-5mm vari-scope with 1.4 on the aperture, however I may be able to invest in another lens if need be.
Let me know what you think!
I would start with a
I would start with a Raspberry Pi or other small Linux board, and using the OpenCV library work on the routines to do this before you get into specific hardware. The RasPi can use many cheap, standard webcams or the camera designed to work with it (faster, but more hoops to go through to get it to work with OpenCV).
After you get people tracking to work, then see what specific hardware you need to do this.
And the LIDAR Lite is supposed to work in sunlight, but probably a reduced range. And at $90 is cheaper than any IR sensor I can picture somebody building on a budget. Read their story, it’s entertaining and informative. But a camera and small computer will do what you want with less cost.
