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Reflectance Sensors

SensorBot

Confidential and proprietary property of TinkRworks, Inc.

Confidential and proprietary property of TinkRworks, Inc.

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Line Following is not New

  • Line following tech has been around since the 1960s.

  • The tech has advanced greatly, but the basic concept is the same.

  • The bot uses the difference in brightness of the line versus the rest of the floor to follow the line.

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Confidential and proprietary property of TinkRworks, Inc.

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Reflectance Sensor

The sensor shines an infrared light (your eye can’t see it) and looks for a reflection — light bouncing back.

For this reason, it’s known as a reflectance sensor.

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The light emitter and the light sensor are in this black box

This blue box is a dial that you can use to change how sensitive the sensor is to light.

Confidential and proprietary property of TinkRworks, Inc.

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How does it work?

  • Reflectance sensors transmit IR light and measures how much bounces/reflects back.

  • Bright surfaces absorb a little and reflect a lot.

  • Dark surfaces absorb a lot and reflect little.

  • Based on how much light is reflected, the Arduino can determine what surface the bot is over.

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Light surface

Dark surface

Confidential and proprietary property of TinkRworks, Inc.

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Why we have 2 sensors

  • We use SensorBot’s reflectance sensors not only to follow lines, but also to prevent it from falling off surfaces.

  • There are 2 sensors so we can monitor both sides of the bot.

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Confidential and proprietary property of TinkRworks, Inc.