[Brandon_L]

Originally Posted by brennonbrimhall

I don't think I've ever heard of a garage door sensor. Would you mind explaining what it is?

IR (Infrared) beam sensors. The kit sensors can be used in a proximity mode or as a IR emitter/phototransistor combo (Basically "Break the laser beam" mode). There is a selector switch you can rotate to choose which mode.

With the right mode, and some programming magic, you can do some pretty cool stuff. We used them in 2012 in proximity mode for our ball indexing.

Other common FRC Sensors include:

• Encoders/Hall Effect Sensors to measure RPM (some higher rez encoders can be used for measuring angles)
• Variable Resistors/Potentiometers (POTs) for a more precise method of measuring angles, or in some cases linear POTs for distances.
• Digital switches (on/off, such as a limit switch)
• Gyroscopes, which measure angular acceleration (or general acceleration in some cases)
• Ultrasonic, which send out a sound wave and times its response. From that measurement + the known speed of the sound wave, distance to the object it hits can be calculated
• My favorite, the webcam provided in the KOP for fun stuff such as vision tracking or simply a robot POV for the drivers.