[cbolin]

Hi,
We get strong and well-defined waveforms on the oscope at close ranges. At a farther distance, say 20 feet, we show occasional hits. We took a tube (an ink pen) to filter out a lot of ambient stuff.

Also, we used a digital camera set to night vision to view the LEDS. Really, really bright orb of IR light. Turn off the night vision, and we see only well defined glowing IR LEDs. We have to orient the IR beacon such that the IR sensor is pointed along the axis running from the top to the bottom of a particular LED. We have the beacon on a moveable cart which allows us to rotate it for maximum signal strength.

Are the beacons used in competion comprised of several LEDs or is it a single omni direction IR source?

Our scope probe connected between the 33 ohm and LED cathode.

Our students have mounted two sensor in tube housing on a support mounted to the servo. Tonight, they will experiment with code to move the servo left and right until IR is detected. We will not worry about which beacon we are looking at.

We will be able to use this rig to experiment with distance, IR shielding for the sensors, etc.

Regards,
Chuck