Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #08550



To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: "Travis D." beam_bot@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 21:43:50 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Keeping things simple...


those cool little IR transmitters/receivers in
computer mouses/mice (I'm not sure which is
gramatically correct in the cyber world ;-). I'm not
really sure of their range or how to hook them up.
Anyone remember or could draw up a scematic?

--- Bob Dole wrote:
> it would be nice to incorperate a simple rangfinding
> device. you could then get rid of the feelers, wich
> tangle. i like the ideas of ir emitters though. if
> the ir receivers detect "to high" a reflection they
> act the same way a feeler would when triggered. this
> would also assist the flocking behavior. the bots
> would be drawn twords the ir emitters of other bots
> until they are too close, then keep thier distance.
>
> by the way, we do have simple depth perception
> though binocular vision and the focusing of the
> lens. but im just nitpicking. :)
> ---------------
> > Hehe, that's a good question! What are we arguing
> for?! :)
> >
> > jester96beam@iname.com wrote:
> > >
> > > BTW, WHY exactly do the bots need to know how
> far away an obstacle is? Am I missing something?
> > >
> > > Chris
>
> Chris' question is almost exactly what started this
> whole thing 42+ posts ago. My point was that it's
> unnecessary to do that, because we don't even do it.
> Things kinda went nuts from there. We did learn
> the difference between right-brained (analog) and
> left-brained (digital) thinking! :)
>
> One last thought: If Anthropomorphism is the
> humanization of non-human things, what is the
> non-humanization of human things? Progress?
>
> Richard (Analog Kid)
> -Panophobic
> -----------------------------------------------
> FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com
> Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com
>
>
>

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8551 Wed, 22 Dec 1999 21:13:55 +1100 [alt-beam] Re: Keeping things simple... beam@sgiblab.sgi.com "Ben Hitchcock" >From: "Travis D."
> those cool little IR transmitters/receivers in
> computer mouses/mice (I'm not sure which is
> gramatically correct in the cyber world ;-). I'm not
> really sure of their range or how to hook them up.
> Anyone remember or could draw up a scematic?
>

Here's a repost of a post I sent in February this year:

I pulled apart an amiga mouse and tried to get the photodiodes to work.
Here's what I found:

The transmitter is coloured pink, has two leads, and operates above 0.5 mA.

The receiver is clear, has three leads, and consumes about 5 mA at 5 volts.
The receiver is pretty special: it appears as if there is a bit of logic
inside it: It outputs a clear high/low signal depending on whether the
transmitter is in range or not. There is no analog levels, just a digital
high/low.

Connections:

Hold the transimitter (pink) with the bubble facing towards you, and the
leads hanging down.
The lead on the left is negative, and the lead on the right is positive.

Hold the receiver (Clear) with the bubble facing towards you, and the leads
hanging down. The lead on the left is negative, the lead in the middle is
signal, and the lead on the right is positive.

The transmitter is just like a LED: Connect a 500 ohm resistor in series
with it, connect it up to a 5 v supply, and the thing will transmit.

The receiver is even easier to wire up: Connect the negative lead 0 Volts,
and the positive lead to 5 volts. Then just use the signal lead as an input
to your microcore, however you wish to wire that part up. It will output
High when it sees IR, low when there's no IR visible.

The receiver starts operating at about 2.7 volts, so I guess it's meant for
5 volt operation.

I got a range of about 5 cm facing one another, and 1 cm range detection
(bouncing the IR light off a wall). So you aren't going to be able to use
this as a wall detector, but it would work well as a cliff sensor, mounted
close to the ground.

Anyway, have fun experimenting!

Ben Hitchcock

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