Photoswitch

[agmlego]

Our team would like to put a couple photoswitches across our cell collector opening, to detect the cells. I have been looking around for the AB photoswitch that was included in the KoP a few years back, but I cannot find it. Does anyone know what model it was, or can recommend a better photoswitch for this purpose? Thanks much!

[keen101]

Ill be honest here, I don't remember any photoswitch being provided in the KOP in previous years. But, if it was you should be able to find it in an old KOP checklist.

http://usfirst.org/community/frc/content.aspx?id=4094

[EricVanWyk]

Do you mean the Banner sensors? Those were pretty simple yes/no sensors that were light based.

On short notice I could only find the 2003 spec sheet for them, I can't remember if they were in the KoP more recently.

http://www2.usfirst.org/2003comp/Specs/bannersensors.pdf

[usbcd36]

I remember there being photogates in the 2006 KOP, but not much about them.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I can find no reference to a photo device after 2003 as Eric has shown above. These were actually very interesting little devices capable of looking for reflections of their own source and they were adjustable.

[Dale]

The Allen Bradley Photo Switch was in the 2006 KOP. It was indeed a dandy little pair of devices. Hard to find, though. Anyway, it's on page 27 of this document http://www2.usfirst.org/2006comp/Manual/5-The_Robot_Rev_F.pdf helpfully called Receiver and Source. If you find a place with them in stock, I'd love to know about it!

[Ted Weisse]

It depends on how much you want to spend. For about $80-$100 you can use others such as Banner Engineering.

http://www.bannerengineering.com/en-US/products/8/Sensors/22/Miniature-Photoelectric-Sensors

Retro-reflective across an opening or defused up close if used in a chute. What out for the web of the ball. I have not tested any of these with the game pieces but have used their sensors for many applications.

[Gdeaver]

We just tried this last night with a sharp IR sensor . The ones we are using are the analog ones so they give and actual distance. Look at the digikey website- http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Cat=1967026&FV=fff4001e,fffc01a9
One note about these. You need an odd cable. Spark fun electronics also sells them and they have a cable for it. If there is a long run of cable from the Crio to the sensor, a 10 uf or greater cap is recommended across +- for a stable signal. For a short cable you might get away with out it. Trying out new sensors with labview is a joy this year. There are allot of filter VI that can clean this up and ones that can take the analog input and give trigger outputs.

[agmlego]

Thanks for all the replies. The one Dale posted is exactly what I was looking for. I will post later if I find any in stock anywhere.