I’ve tried Lidar, sonar (sr04, sr08), Doppler radar, 5mW visible laser…to detect vehicles as they pass by my driveway between 40 and 60 kph. None of the above worked and for various reasons. Lidar and sonar didn’t have range, Doppler was so sensitive it measure speed of grass waving in the wind across the 2 lane highway, laser used a reflector across the highway then time measured how long was blocked. Almost worked but alignment of the reflected beam is a killer without an optical bench!
So I’m back to US, but long range like the units by Maxbotics, those things with horns on them. They seem to have the specs I want. I need a range of about 25 feet (10 feet into my driveway and detection of far lane) and not necessary to tell what type of vehicle it is (like my laser was going to ). What say you guys that have used these US devices?
Hey @foundb,
Welcome to the RobotShop community!
If I understand correctly, your goal is to (accurately) count vehicles passing in front of your property and those vehicles move at speeds of 40-60 kph. Is that right?
Unless you wish to spend effort into developing your own intelligent object counting algorithm using basic sensors you may be simply better off using an integrated solution. Something like an RB-Led-13 might be a good option for you (there is also a 45° version, RB-Led-12).
You can see some example application note here. Car counting systems are often setup in parallel with the direction of the moving objects to be counted, especially when they move fast instead of perpendicular (ex: from your property).
That being said, with a wide beam, 16 segments and 100 Hz refresh rate you should be able to capture useful data of what is passing in from of your home and with some processing obtain/count the number of moving objects, though this will require some complex programming unless you can leverage existing code for this purpose.
You may alternatively look at other options, such as RB-Omn-07. This kind of product is well supported by their manufacturer and has regular software updates to improve and upgrade the capabilities of their products well after their initial release. Also, one of its typical use case is for traffic monitoring!
All in all, counting fast moving objects of varying sizes, shapes, speed and material from a distance and while being perpendicular is no easy task (as you’ve noticed, I’m sure!).
I hope this information helps and good luck with your project!
Sincerely,
Thanks for your extensive reply…but I don’t want a $$$ option which I know is always available as commercial products. My laser option would have worked except for fact that the laser, mirror, and sensor are very difficult to align and even a slight movement in the mirror for example, results in drastic movement in the reflection that comes back. So I abandoned that approach. Too bad because I had everything running in a nice little box and it could discriminate between vehicles! I’m changing the sensor and bought a long range US sensor made by Maxbotix, and sold by Robotshop. I’ll make it work.
Sounds good! I hope it works out for you.
You may also want to consider posting about your project here. I’m certain the community would be interested to read about it!
Sincerely,
Thanks for the link…didn’t know that existed here. Yes, I will share all my projects in honor of those who helped me along the way with C++, Arduino, etc. I’ve got 4 projects going: Speed Sign, Car Counter, Snowflake Christmas Display (8 feet tall, see from 1/2 km) and a project to synchronize the Snowflake with two other displays that use 3W RGB LEDs.
Sound great!
Impressive list! Looking forward to seeing those! Who knows, you may even win the monthly robot contest! 