Ultrasonic rangers for obstacle avoidance

[kaszeta]

Originally Posted by pogenwurst

For our team's hybrid mode, I've been thinking of using data from four ultrasonic rangers, one on each side of the robot, in conjuction with known distances accross the field, to detect obstacles.

I have to questions about this:

- First of all, is this a valid concept? I can explain in more detail, if necessary.

Team95 has used these and infrared ranging sensors in the past, with mixed results. They generally work (although IR works pretty well for bot avoidance, it's bad if the stuff you're looking for is polished diamond plate), but there are a lot of little gotchas (like ultrasonic sensors getting false readings from loud noises like pneumatic valves). Testing is the order of the day.