Re: Range Finder?
 

Our team used an ultrasonic sensor in 2011 to sense the driver station wall. It worked reasonably well until we got into elims with other teams using ultrasonic sensors. After, we switched to a sharp IR sensor, which worked much better.

Re: Range Finder?
 

This past year we had a laser rangefinder that worked decently. It interfaced to the cRio fairly well and was not that bad to get running. It may be a bit more work this year with the new control system.

As for use and performance, while our drivers and software group never got it fully tuned, it still turned out to be a decent aid to the driver so they could dial in the proper range.

Here is the model we used.. its a little pricy but still falls under the $400 threshold and is Class 1 laser type

http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/...suring/OPT2012

Re: Range Finder?
 

We have also tested laser range finders, specifically a Sick DT50, which is similar to the previously listed Automation Direct version with a longer range. This is a "time of flight" Class 1 laser that outputs a distance in mm, up to 20,000mm or 20 meters (65ft). We have found that they do not sense the polycarb backboards, walls, driver station windows, etc. They do work on shiny objects such as the diamond plate. They have a very focused spot size and therefore are only accurate within the inch area they are pointed at. Just be aware if you are trying to sense a field object that is made from polycarb that it will not sense it.

Measurement range: 200 … 20,000 mm
Resolution: 1 mm
Repeatability : ± 1 mm
Accuracy: ± 7 mm
Output rate: 2 ms
Resistance to ambient light: 40 klux
Operating temperature: -30 … +65 °C
Analogue output: 4 … 20 mA and 1 switching output

We looked at the dt50 as well. Looks like our performance was similar to yours. The dt50 was out of stock at the time we ordered. Thanks for the info.

Re: Range Finder?
 

This year we use the Vex ultrasound for our autonomous and to guide manual shooting; it worked very well for us. The only problem is you'll fry it if it get subjected to too much vibration. We mount it at a spot where it get subjected to large amount of shock from our shooter arm. We fried three this season: during practice, regionals and St Louise. Try the Maxbotix in our practice robot while we wait for replacement Vex ultrasound and it did not work for us. Reading jump all over the place even with averaging. We're using Java and we use the analog when we wired the Maxbotix.