We have some old VEX sets here in our lab. I’d like to repurpose an ultrasonic sensor for this project using an Arduino:
Does anyone have any advice on how I can use it with the board? I understand that the black wire = ground and red = 5V, but I’m not sure how to interpret the output from the 3rd wire. In addition, I’m not sure if I can just one of the two sensors that come on the board.
Thanks!,
Kristen
Looks like that third wire is an analog output from the sensor.
To use the signal in arduino code:
int sensorValue = analogRead(SONAR_DATA_PIN);
// Process value to find distance
For more information about analog inputs to an arduino, see the arduino analog input tutorial
So assuming you are using a Vex ultrasonic sensor it is actually 1 sensor that uses 2 digital ports not analog.
You flip the input wire high and time how long it takes before the output wire goes high. Then convert to inches etc. I suggest using the second pin on an interrupt port to get accurate timing.
I made an arduino library here for running a Vex ultrasonic sensor.
One thing being that the library was designed for several sensors to all share a single interrupt port. And allowed 5 sensors to run off of only 5 digital output and 1 interrupt instead of 10 ports total. This isn’t important for your project but it will explain why it is organized the way it is.
This was obviously the right forum to visit. Thank you all for the guidance!
-Kristen