1 Introduction
You dont stop playing because you get old; you get old
because you stop playing!
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hank you for purchasing the IR Control Freak (IR-CF) module for your robot or control project. If you bought the kit version, please follow the assembly instructions first.
The IR-CF has been specially designed for autonomous robotic control and for robotic gaming. However, it can also be used for any other infrared control application.
IR-CF can be easily interfaced to the BASIC Stamp (from Parallax) or to any other Microcontroller using just two I/O pins and a common ground connection.
Please check our website www.robotmaker.co.uk for the latest versions of this user manual and for latest upgrades. Please add your comments to the forum www.robotmaker.co.uk/phpbb/
1.1
Tools you may
need
- Voltammeter or simple circuit tester
- Small Soldering Iron and Solder, wires and connectors (for making a cable)
- Wire Cutters
2 Overview Of FUNCTIONALITY
Non-contact
distance measurements
The IR-CF offers non-contact distance measurements from about 2cm (1") to about 30cms (1ft), by sending short bursts of IR pulses on the left and right IR-LEDs. The number of reflected hits detected on each of the IR sensors is decoded to determine the direction and distance of an obstacle
180
degree Infrared Proximity Sensing
Depending on how the sensors and Infrared LEDs have been calibrated, the three Infrared proximity sensors provide approximately 180 degrees of detection.
The combined directional and distance measurement sensing the IR-CF provides excellent autonomous control through narrow passages or mazes. Using command code 32 (see command code overview section below), obstacle directional and distance data is provided as an optional output; transmitted via the serial port.
Directional
display
The circular compass style LED-display points in the direction of the nearest obstacle.
The green centre LED will illuminates when an object is fairly close, e.g. 100mm (4").
Directional information of obstacles helps instant decision making during maze running and Gaming.
Mode
of operations
The circular display is also used to provide visual feedback on the state of the command modes selected. Details of the display patterns are provide in the command mode overview section. This feature is excellent for debugging of your program by providing feedback on current routine being executed
Fuzzy
Logic
The pre-programmed Fuzzy Logic proximity detection algorithms, enable instant object avoidance decision, this frees-up a lot of processing your main robot controller would normally need to do. If you don't want to use the pre-programmed logic, you can design your own Fuzzy Logic algorithms from the six bytes of 'raw' proximity detection data. By measuring the successful hit on each of the IR sensors over time it is possible to determine whether an object moving towards / way from the sensor.
Infrared
Remote Control