Asked — Edited

Distance Sensor

I have a linear actuator to control how tall my Tin Man robot will be. The problem is that even though I can control the actuator with the Ezb I wonder if I can control the location of the actuator with a sonic distance sensor. It's accuracy is 2cm (3/4") to 450cm (177").

If it would work I am planning on attaching sensor on the underside of my robot's shoulder aimed down at the base of the robot. My robot is 5' at its tallest position.

I also am thinking about looking into laser or proximity sensor.

What do you think?


ARC Pro

Upgrade to ARC Pro

ARC Pro is your gateway to a community of like-minded robot enthusiasts and professionals, all united by a passion for advanced robot programming.

#1  

Interesting but don't think it's going to be very accurate or responsive. This should be a fun experiment though. Please share your results. Your best bet is to add a linear pot to the outside of the actuator and measure the shaft stroke movement. Good luck and have fun.;)

PRO
Synthiam
#2  

You could do that, long as nothing got in the way. Laser is probably not the best because it doesn’t like some reflective or dark materials, such as clean floors:)

I would stick to ultrasonic if facing at the ground.

To ensure there’s no bouncing between signal response differences, I would use be Filtere plugin on the response. That’ll smooth the value.

It’s a neat idea that you’re attempting - never heard of it done before. I don’t see why it won’t work, it’ll be interesting to see the response.

#3  

Thanks, just the positive response I needed to get going.

I am working on it.