[Lab] range finding

[Aaron Ramsey]

Check out the XV-11 Lidar scanner. Its from a robot vacuum cleaner and is spectacular. It gives you a full 360 scan (360 readings) 5 times a second and works out to 6 meters. The data comes out in a 115200 baud serial stream at 3.3v and is easy to interpret. Draws around 30mA in use.

I've got 2 now. The latest one was $70 on eBay which is a steal compared to any other Lidar. That type of sensor typically runs into the thousands for low end versions.

Aaron

On Feb 5, 2014 3:20 PM, Darcy Whyte <darcy at inventorArtist.com> wrote:
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> I want to just track their position on a line that's about 10 or 20 feet long. I haven't figured the distance out yet but it will be something like that...
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> Darcy Whyte
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> Art+ inventorArtist.com | Aviation rubber-power.com
> Contact: darcy at inventorArtist.com | 613-563-3634 by appointment (no text)
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> On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 3:14 PM, Adam Hill <theadbo at gmail.com> wrote:
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>> Hi Darcy,
>>
>> I've had occasion to think about similar things over the last couple of years. I wasn't sure what exactly you meant by '20 foot distance'. 
>> Do you mean track them in 3 dimensions inside a 20 ft radius? If so, then you probably want to go with machine vision (kinect (1st gen) is probably easier to get up and running but there are some libraries for doing this with a webcam (not as performant)). 
>>
>> If you mean measure a linear distance from the source to the person, or a boolean indication of the presence of a person, up to 20ft away, then I would say something similar to the hardware you're currently using. I would note that in my experience these are not created equally. I like the MB1210 (http://www.abra-electronics.com/products/MB1210-Ultrasonic-Range-Finder-%252d-XL%252dMaxSonar%252dEZ1.html). It was the most reliable out to just less than 20 ft, and is specifically calibrated for people detection. 
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>> Good luck!
>> -a
>>
>> On Wednesday, February 5, 2014, Darcy Whyte <darcy at inventorartist.com> wrote:
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>>> I was just thinking. In the endgame I want to be tracking a person moving over a 20 foot distance. 
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>>> I'm starting to think I might need to try something else. Ideas?
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Darcy Whyte
>>>
>>> Art+ inventorArtist.com | Aviation rubber-power.com
>>> Contact: darcy at inventorArtist.com | 613-563-3634 by appointment (no text)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 2:02 PM, Darcy Whyte <darcy at inventorartist.com> wrote:
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>>>> Hi, I have one of these (I think) http://ramshackblog.blogspot.ca/2012/02/ultrasonic-range-finder-using-sdm-io.html
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>>>> It has four pins.
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>>>> I've got it working using the code at that page. It measures really well up to about 30cm then after that it just prints out 999 cm?
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>>>> I noticed with a piece of paper I can get further (around 70cm). 
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>>>> It's supposed to be good for 150cm. 
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>>>> Any ideas what's going on here?
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>>>> I have two of them and I tried the other one (in case it was a bu component). But same result...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Darcy Whyte
>>>>
>>>> Art+ inventorArtist.com | Aviation rubber-power.com
>>>> Contact: darcy at inventorArtist.com | 613-563-3634 by appointment (no text)
>>>>
>>>
>>
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