Today, Steve and I put together a sonar range finder. The device is just a small black cylinder, about a half inch in diameter and a half inch tall with three wires sticking off of it.
First, I had to solder the wires onto the device. I'm not very experienced with a soldering iron and I didn't want to set the fire alarm off, so this put a little pressure on me, but I pulled it off!
Then, I wired it to our SensorDAQ and made a quick program in LabVIEW. The sonar sensor has an output that displays the measured distance as a multiple of 127 µS (micro-seconds). For example, 10 inches would produce a pulse of 1.27 mS (mili-seconds) or 1270 µS.
Finally, we tested to make sure the sensor would read water. We filled a coffee can with water and held the sensor above the can, noting its reading before and after we filled the can. And it worked!
Part of the Lemelson-InvenTeam Initiative is finding EUREKA! moments. Plugging a couple wires in, clicking "run" on a computer screen, and having a value change as I wave my hand is, in my opinion, a EUREKA! moment.
-Chris
Monday, February 11, 2008
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1 comments:
Dear Chris and Steve,
This device really intrigues me. I like its simplicity. Have you run the test with the manual method in "Site Assessment for Gardeners" as well? I'd be interested in how different or similar the numbers are, using the manual vs. the sensor techniques.
Charlie Mazza
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