bumper switch / light sensor reversed operation?

VEX V5 General Discussion General Forum
1

hello! i was wondering if anyone knows if the bumper switch or light sensor can work in an opposite fashion then they usually do, i.e. the bumper switch is constantly pressed and robot performs a particular action when the switch is released. i’m trying to make a stationary robot that will know when it’s been picked up, and was planning to have a bumper switch on its foot. i could just put the light sensor on the foot, but i’m worried about A: the light sensor being damaged by being set on the floor face down and smashed into the carpet by a heavy robot, and B: it sometimes not being bright enough for the light sensor to function since it would be facing downward. in addition, the robot needs to know when it’s been knocked over but i don’t want a big ugly bumper switch on the side of my robot as it would appear very out of place (i’m building it to look like something in particular), but a light sensor on the side would be easy to conceal, and would work as long as the robot can perform an action when it no longer senses light. any info of this would be very helpful. thank you,

~James

P.S. no i don’t have the kit yet, but plan to buy it soon. and since i’m only buying the kit to build a particular robot, these questions are very important to the future of the project.

2

This becomes a matter of Programming… Both of the Switches have Two States, OPEN or CLOSED. You then Program for what happens to the Switch State when the Robot is Picked Up.

3

Yes you can program it to know when it has been released, you just program it to notice that when it is open instead of closed.

Mark beat me to it…

4

excellent! thank you guys so much for your help. now i can order the kit and programmer without worrying that the robot i’m intending to build won’t work.

5

, but a light sensor on the side would be easy to conceal, and would work as long as the robot can perform an action when it no longer senses light. any info of this would be very helpful. thank you,

~James

P.S. no i don’t have the kit yet, but plan to buy it soon. and since i’m only buying the kit to build a particular robot, these questions are very important to the future of the project.

…you said that a bumper would not look good? How about using a metal shield that looks like the bot’s side?
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