Four multiplexed lasers and a Hamamatsu S6986 sensor control two servos in a pan & tilt arrangement to actively track a moving Scotchlite reflector. These are the 21-cent lasers from Ebay China.
How did you do the multi plexing of the lasers? If I was doing it with a propeller chip I would have the laser sensor output go into a Propeller pin, and one cog would round robin the lasers, but only enabled them when the laser sensors input was high. With a BS2 I'd use four external AND gates to do the same thing.
But both of these approaches seem too complicated for your more minimalist and direct style.
How did you do the multi plexing of the lasers? If I was doing it with a propeller chip I would have the laser sensor output go into a Propeller pin, and one cog would round robin the lasers, but only enabled them when the laser sensors input was high. With a BS2 I'd use four external AND gates to do the same thing.
But both of these approaches seem too complicated for your more minimalist and direct style.
Thanks guys. This was a quick impulse project that popped into my head yesterday and I knocked it out in a couple hours. Not a beautiful build at all, I just wanted to git'er done before I slept. Fortunately, it worked the first time, no fuss at all. It helped that the wife and kids are out of town for a week. No interruptions and the whole house to myself.
The single central laser sensor is surrounded by 4 laser diodes which are all aimed and glued in place to maintain that square pattern. They are fired individually via 2N7000 mosfets in sequence so the sensor "knows" which laser is active, just as Scribbler's single central IR detector works by multiplexing the left and right IR LEDs for object detection.
Per Martin_H, I keep my hardware and software simple. As Ron divulged (DOH, busted!) I used "another" processor since I was rushed and I had a leftover board built up from a different project. But a BS2 could easily handle this project. In fact the code is tiny, this would also work on a BS1 since it only uses seven I/O pins. One input from the sensor, two servo outputs and four laser outputs. Even with a BS1, there's one extra pin to trigger that flamethrower, Ron...
While this is a very cool project in itself, below is what really amazes me...
...and I knocked it out in a couple hours..
I can't seem to get anything (even simple) done is less than days....errrr, weeks......aw Smile, years!
I was a bachelor for three weeks, the wife & kids were in Ohio dealing with her parents' estate. I had the house to myself. Had 7 different projects going. Some home improvement, some honeydos. two paying gigs, and so I didn't feel bad about sneaking in an afternoon for a fun project. Those were productive weeks with no interruption, and I kept the pace up high. Plenty of beer, pizza, and junk food got me thru a SoCal heat wave when I also got caught up on some long overdue miles of running and biking. I'm back on track for 1000 and 5000 miles respectively.
Family's back now, so my pace in all things will revert to normal.
Here's my BS-1 based tracker, a neater build than my first one. It actually works better although it only uses ~67% of the BS1's 256-byte memory (~172 bytes). And my quickie code could be crunched even more. That's just a battery box in the base. All electronics are on the moving PCB. Photo attached.
I got to see this up close and personal at the Hackaday party -- VERY COOL little board, and very reminiscent of the Predator tracker. Funny, the guy who created the Predator for Stan Winston (Steve Wang) is a friend and client.
Thanks Jon, that's high praise and quite a compliment from you. I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing a new BS1 project since you have done so many over the years.
You can't tell from the video, but it's tracking nearly twice as fast as when you saw it at Hackaday. It was just hours old then (became functional at 3am that day) and since then I got the tracking routine dialed in and sped up.
I'm making a second BS1 tracker to send to Parallax. Between this laser-seeking unit and the flamethrowing BoeBot I gave Ken, someone in legal is going to have a meltdown.
Great project, erco. Your rate of project completion is currently about 10x mine and Matt's put together! Seeing you do all these neat things inspires us to do the same.
Thanks Boss. Now my head is really swelling. Of course my projects are all very simple in nature, 'Cuz I'm a toy guy. If they take more than an hour or two then I made some missteaks along the way
.....I should start a poll to see if people would rather see this tracking device control .....
My suggestion: Add to your device and a second X-Y base (much more stronger) that will do the same movements as the first base with the laser tracker. Users will be free to put on this second base everything they want (a camera, a rubber gun , a burning laser etc.)
Edit: You can give the choice the second base to follow the movements of the first base after the user's demand and not every time
Comments
How did you do the multi plexing of the lasers? If I was doing it with a propeller chip I would have the laser sensor output go into a Propeller pin, and one cog would round robin the lasers, but only enabled them when the laser sensors input was high. With a BS2 I'd use four external AND gates to do the same thing.
But both of these approaches seem too complicated for your more minimalist and direct style.
He is using a PicAxe - http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?26523-Laser-Tracker-Pan-amp-Tilt&p=271515#post271515
Any lenses in use?
I love it. Just as I was thinking "is he using four sensors?" you kindly explain how you're using just one. Excellent.
The single central laser sensor is surrounded by 4 laser diodes which are all aimed and glued in place to maintain that square pattern. They are fired individually via 2N7000 mosfets in sequence so the sensor "knows" which laser is active, just as Scribbler's single central IR detector works by multiplexing the left and right IR LEDs for object detection.
Per Martin_H, I keep my hardware and software simple. As Ron divulged (DOH, busted!) I used "another" processor since I was rushed and I had a leftover board built up from a different project. But a BS2 could easily handle this project. In fact the code is tiny, this would also work on a BS1 since it only uses seven I/O pins. One input from the sensor, two servo outputs and four laser outputs. Even with a BS1, there's one extra pin to trigger that flamethrower, Ron...
Edit: No lenses used, Jim.
Note to self: order more lasers. Each tracker uses four lasers, 84 cents on the Ebay China market.
@GrandeNurse - LOL! - for a newcomer to the forums - you've got erco figured out!
@erco - he's right...
I can't seem to get anything (even simple) done is less than days....errrr, weeks......aw Smile, years!
My thoughts and feelings exactly......it should be motivational and inspirational to see what he can do in a couple hours. Should be......
Robert
I was a bachelor for three weeks, the wife & kids were in Ohio dealing with her parents' estate. I had the house to myself. Had 7 different projects going. Some home improvement, some honeydos. two paying gigs, and so I didn't feel bad about sneaking in an afternoon for a fun project. Those were productive weeks with no interruption, and I kept the pace up high. Plenty of beer, pizza, and junk food got me thru a SoCal heat wave when I also got caught up on some long overdue miles of running and biking. I'm back on track for 1000 and 5000 miles respectively.
Family's back now, so my pace in all things will revert to normal.
...um, that doesn't sound good.
That is wayyyy cool :thumb:
-MattG
You can't tell from the video, but it's tracking nearly twice as fast as when you saw it at Hackaday. It was just hours old then (became functional at 3am that day) and since then I got the tracking routine dialed in and sped up.
I'm making a second BS1 tracker to send to Parallax. Between this laser-seeking unit and the flamethrowing BoeBot I gave Ken, someone in legal is going to have a meltdown.
@Ken - erco's change of employment has meant an explosion of new ideas!
Congratulations erco!!!!
My suggestion: Add to your device and a second X-Y base (much more stronger) that will do the same movements as the first base with the laser tracker. Users will be free to put on this second base everything they want (a camera, a rubber gun , a burning laser etc.)
Edit: You can give the choice the second base to follow the movements of the first base after the user's demand and not every time