Thanks. Thats exactly what i was looking for. I find myself engineering something very similar to the linefollowing tasks in FIRST. For a non FIRST related project i am building a wheelchair that uses a system of lines and barcodes to navigate autonomously from room to room. We are considering either using a combination of optical sensors and a barcode reader or a ledgend series computer vision system made by
DVT Sensors.
optical sensors + barcode reader
The barcode reader + sensors is more complex but probably cheaper ~$800
we figure about $60 per sensor and 8 sensors = $480
plus barcode reader $150
plus digital IO for the computer to attach the sensors $100
plus incedentals $100
PROS: fast response time, cheaper
CONS: lower accuracy,more parts, need to find suitable sensors, more complex
DVT sensor approach $1370
Ledgend 520 University package(includes ledgend 520 sensor with built in illumination, breakout box, lens, cables etc)$1,100
24V DC/DC power supply $170
incidentals(mounting hardware connectors etc) $100
PROS: simple, flexible, fewer parts, high line postion accuracy.
CONS: more expensive, the models that are within our budget might not be fast enough. This has yet to be determined and will probably be the deciding factor.
Does anybody with any experience ahve any reccomendations for photoelectric sensors besides the banner sensors. We are trying to sense tape lines against a contrasting background. From what i gather we need a diffuse type sensor. We would like something with a spot size of about 2cm from a distance of anywhere from 5-20cm. We are trying to stay under $100 per sensor. I really don't have much experience with photoelectric sensors other than the Banner Engineering sensors in the kit. I work for a company that is a distributor of Pepperl+Fuchs, Optex and Schmersal. All of those products seem like they were designed to sense distance but i am guessing that they can be used to sense color just like the banner sensors.