I need references/schematics on long-range infrared transmitter and receiver

Im building a bot that supposed to find and approach a stationary beacon up to at least 5 meters away, (the minimum required is 5 meters, exceeding that is fine)I have decided to use IR for the beacon since sound based and RF based proved difficult due to certain traits that would prove a hindrance to the positional tracking

The bot also has a an IR collision sensors like the ones shown here http://www.e-gizmo.com/KIT/Collision.HTM
so I have to make sure that the beacon's signal does not interfere with the obstacle detector

Thanks.

 

Make sure the modulation on the beacon is at at different and non-harmonic frequency.

 

Hello,

I'm also building a IR beacon for bot navigation. I have built a simple transmitter with a 555 timer (modulation) and receiver with a phototransistor and an quad op-amplifier... last week.

The test shows very short range, even when the op-amplifiers make the signal 1000x stronger. The width of a desk is max... I can add more info...

Do you have any better results you could share?

 

I would make a parabolic reflector, and have the IR receiver placed at the focal point of the parabola. Aluminum foil isn't ideal, but it is inexpensive and would work reasonably well.

Nutating (moving the parabola from side to side) should give you variations in the strength of the received signal; then you can "zero in" on the strongest direction.

 

Does the beacon transmit a 360 deg. pattern, or does it rotate? Can bot's antenna rotate, till it receives a hit, then oscillates as Sgt. suggests?

 

Might review post by electrazy , similar problem.

 

I've seen "Beacon Finders" created as a ring of 8 IR Transistors mounted around the periphery of a circle, every 45 degrees. Microcontroller reads/decodes input from all 8, and moves towards the strongest source. Make sure the modulation frequency and pattern is a good deal different than the obstacle detection IR.

 

This is an interesting implementation of a virtual compound eye that may prove useful.

hgmjr