what type of sensors are good and convenient
 

hi guys what type of sensors should i use and what type of sensors you think are more useful and covenient, and what type of sensors did yoiu use last year?

Re: what type of sensors are good and convenient
 

It would help if you told us exactly what you are trying to accomplish.

Re: what type of sensors are good and convenient
 

I think he means, just overall, what are good to play with. I don't think anyone really used sensors last year in the competition, but I would recommend looking into touch sensors and light sensors.

Touch sensors would be useful if your trying to do something at a certain point and are easier program.

Light sensors take a little more thought, but have more flexibility.

Re: what type of sensors are good and convenient
 

gryoscopes and pitch/yaw rate sensors. With some simple integration you will always know which way you are pointing and if you then track how far you move, with some trig you always know where on the field you are.

Re: what type of sensors are good and convenient
 

That seems like it is going to be a problem this year with the new C compiler. What about sound sensors?

Re: what type of sensors are good and convenient
 

Do you mean that its going to be a problem to integrate and keep track of position or that keeping track of position will be an issue in that it will be a necessary thing?

-Kesich

Re: what type of sensors are good and convenient
 

Nah, Im saying the trig will be tricky to use after seeing the topics on it. Integration does not seem that hard to do.

Re: what type of sensors are good and convenient
 

Wheel encoders, limit switches, sonar rangefinding sensors, current transducers, IR rangefinders, gyros/accererometers, focused Optical sensors, potentiometers, HAL effect sensors, pressure transducers.

Wheel encoders - Measure rotation. come in two varieties: incremental, which can be used to measure speed, and absolute, which give the angular position of their input shaft. Note: the pulses from incremental encoders can be counted up to derive angular position(integration).

Limit Switches - Switches that trigger when something hits them. Limit switches ae commonly used to determine when a mechanism is at its minimum or maximum position. These are very cheap and very easy to implement.

Potentiometers - Measure angular position, but are limited in how far they will turn. Again cheap and easy to implement. Usually at least one of these comes in the kit. The can be had for like $1 anyway though.

Current Transducers - Used to determine how much current a motor or other electrical component is drawing. These come in many varieties including shunt resistors and HAL effect based models. Some HAL effect current transducers can be directly connected to and read by the robot controller with very little effort.

[b]Gyros and Accelerometers[b] - Gyros measure angular rate of change. This can be integrated to get something like a compass reading. They can also be turned in other directions to measure azimuth etc. Accererometers are similar to gyros except that they measure linear acceleration. The output from these can be integrated to get distance. Implementation of gyros can range from relatively easy to very difficult. Usually a gyro comes in the kit

Focussed Optical SensorsThese measure reflectivity or coloration of an object. When used in pairs or groups they can be used to follow the lines drawn on the feild. Many teams did this last year to find their way up the ramp in autonomous. They can also be used in many of the places where you would find limit swititches. Last year we got a bunch of these in the kit. They are digital and trigger at an adjustable light/color threshhold.

IR and Sonar rangefinders - measure distance from a distance. These come in many forms. Some can be easily used with the analog input on the robot controller, and other require use of a serial port. Relative cheap $10-$80 and pretty accurate.

Jsut a few off the top of my head.