Hi,
my first question for my first robot. Someone have some experience with the TPA8 sensor?
In your opinion, can I use this sensor to build a bot able to find - for example - some human?
thanks
uhm interesting. i think
uhm interesting. i think you’re speaking about this one:
http://www.robot-electronics.co.uk/htm/tpa81tech.htm
I never heard of this before. From the description, it looks like it should be able to distinguish a humans:
"A human at 2 meters will show up as around 29°C with a background 20°C ambient."
But if i should guess, i think you’ll get all sort of noise from the room: hot pc case, room heating units, TVs, etc.
It would be interesting to see how it works anyway 
Interesting, isn’t it? ;)For
Interesting, isn’t it? 
For me, is very exciting writing some code to turn servo, read tpa81, move a bot in the right direction (whatever ‘right direction’ would mean).
NB: tpa81 cost about 63 euros… plus shipping 
(in Italy about 75€)
I’d been eyeing that sensor
I’d been eyeing that sensor for a while, but the cost just didn’t justify buying one.
If you get one and start using it, we’d be interested in how it performs and seeing it in action(video)!
mmm… Arduino + picaxe +
mmm…
Arduino + picaxe + some sensors, motors & wheels cost me about 200 euros (300usd) ! (oh, if my wife discover it … )
Before buying this sensor, I wanna be sure it’s useful…
Ya don’t have to get both
an Arduino and a PICAxe, just pick one that you feel more comfortable with. Read the docs for both, see which one makes more sense ot you, and go for it. Then get the other one down the line to try it out too.
That’s some pretty high prices, but shipping can be high too. Little RC servos are cheap sometimes, as are some of the Solarbotics motors. That Start-Here robot can be done fairly cheaply.
hey nothing wrong with
hey nothing wrong with mixing them,I’ve found the picaxe 8m’s are great for small tasks while another proc can do other things…though I’ve also been doing this do to memory space…but still…mixing procs can still be fun 
I think it’s better starting
I think it’s better starting with something simple and picaxe is simple.
But I don’t like basic and picaxe have some imits.
Arduino can be programmed with something like C and I like to experiment with it!
I’ve programmed in C,C++, Basic, Php, ASP,Pascal, Fortrand, Assember… I think basic it’s terrible…
It’s ok to get something quick & dirty, but I don’t like it.
I agree, and nothing beats
I agree, and nothing beats an 8pin chip for a quick and dirty 38khz serialized ir data stream which the axe can do pretty easily. I’m using a couple of the 08m’s for ir beakons doing this exact thing.