kamaroman68
USA
Asked
— Edited
So I read this forum everyday and see all of the new features that are soon to come out... ie kinect. I am currently building my robot (big robot) and I cant help but review a lot of sensors here that have been used by others and maybe even myself. For example ping (radar) and sharp IR. So the real question is will the kinect perform all the functions these other sensors do. So in place of a bunch of radar and ir sensors can I use one kinect sensor for all? I think it would make for a cleaner and easier install. Thanks for any and all replies. Chris
Well I believe that the kinect will help out a lot with limiting the amount of sensors you will need. But depending on where you put it you will most likely need to add a couple sensors.
Eg. You have a three foot tall robot that's 2ft x 2ft. You put the kinect on the top in the middle. It picks stuff up at the three foot level well, but it has difficulty when trying to scan lower. To a comidate you add some distance sensors around the one foot mark. Problem solved.
Bear in mind the Kinect using IR. IR doesn't like sunlight. There will always be limitations with every sensor and there is no one size fits all solution. Depending on your circumstances you may need further sensors.
@kamaron what we have discussed and some have tried on their robots is a sensor system that uses a mix. Using only IR for example means reflective or non reflective its may not show well and sunlight or bright indoor lights " like halegen or bright flouresent) make them less effective. Its best to use a combination. My setup uses ultrasonic rangefinders and also Sharp IR Rangefinders as well. Here's pics and a short video. As far as how to script this I don't have examples But Rich would figure that end out faster than I would. I made a radar sensor with both ultrasonic and IR rangefinger on the same assembly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbuQ-012bG4&feature=youtube_gdata_player