IR sensor project

Thread Starter

ZekeSalea

Joined Nov 30, 2021
11
I am just a student, and this project is just for fun; if successful it’s just for interview conversation purposes.

overview: I want to make a ‘dartboard’ish thing that can tell me where bullseye is via IR sensors and PLC and hopefully some type of txt-to-speech output.
So, the IR emitter where my ‘dart’ is will be like a suction cup gun thing with the emitter aimed to a glass dart board(because IR) <— (and receivers will be behind the glass), and the dart board will have a collage of IR recievers in each area of the dart board. And will be wired together in octants to feed 8 different signals/inputs to the PLC, being (up,down,left,right, up/left, up/right, down/right, down/left) <—- and those will be my txt-to-speech outputs to tell me where to aim for my bullseye, and I suppose I’ll have a bullseye IR reciever to tell me “on target”. And the outcome is I can aim a suction cup gun to hit the bullseye without me looking at it/ just hearing the output commands for adjustment.

I havnt started this at all,just like 3 days of thought into this. Some hiccups I can foresee are the preciseness of emitter to reciever it will have to be beam like to trigger an accurate command output. And IR acts more of a array with angles , I will look into narrowing the emitter with foil funneling maybe, and close the eye some of the recievers with foil. And will have to do research into TTS with the PLC outcome. That thought originated when I was thinking of doing this with Python and a raspberry pi. And it’s sort of simple to have a TTS. But I would rather use a PLC.

when looking further into this I read things like low-pass filters with resistors and capasictors on IR recievers, (the only knowledge I can get help on is looking into laser tag technology and it’s hard to translate into what I’m trying to do).

I suppose no specific questions right now but any pointers or guidance would be appreciated.

as of now my next steps was buying a emitter and a couple recievers with LED’S on them and start looking into the angles and precision that a reciever can see a signal(so that half a dart board won’t be seeing the IR emitter) and range, and by the way this will be on about a 6’-10’ range. Preferably.

if I’m in over my head and this project is worse than I think let me know lol. I have an associates degree in electromechanical tech, and a junior in engineering technology, so yall semi know my knowledge base. I don’t have a career in this.

*the second part of the project is the actual suction cup gun thing. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get this far but I might want it on a robotic tilt table programmed to a joy stick for aiming. And have a small pneumatic air gun with a toy suction cup thing, like the things the size of your finger. Electronically controlled.

Update: looking into acoustic recievers, details in one of these comments. Not sure the direction I’ll go at this time .
 

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Thread Starter

ZekeSalea

Joined Nov 30, 2021
11
I could be convinced lol, So in place of the IR emitter? And works with IR recievers? If that’s a thing that solves a descent amount of my future issues.
In doing that, I’m not sure how important it is to find one that does 38khz like the recievers would want. Or just anything will set them off, If that works my next step is getting that reading to a PLC.
 

Thread Starter

ZekeSalea

Joined Nov 30, 2021
11
Tomorow I may draw something up that is more detailed, primarily the reciever configuration, and how Itl be wired to the PLC, I’ll probably give each octant it’s own 5v power source wired in parallel so every reciever can just have the same voltage. If I know how to wire parallel from a single prong. I won’t be necessarily having a pos&neg. on a 3prong IR reciever. (Voltage, ground,data). And just put all the data prongs together to one wire going into 1input of the PLC.
And then I’ll play with a ladder diagram program from there. Should be simple single line stuff.

and this is my last week of my semester and have like a 5week break so I’ll be hopping on this pretty soon. And hopefully finish before spring semester starts.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
The accuracy of your aiming system is limited by the accuracy of your gun. I don’t think you will find that a suction cup dart is very happy to hit the same place twice with a small error. But it strikes me this would be A much more impressive demonstration in the other direction: and infrared emitter target and an infrared sensor aiming system.

If you did it in that direction, you could use a lens and make the detector array much more compact.
 

Thread Starter

ZekeSalea

Joined Nov 30, 2021
11
The accuracy of your aiming system is limited by the accuracy of your gun. I don’t think you will find that a suction cup dart is very happy to hit the same place twice with a small error. But it strikes me this would be A much more impressive demonstration in the other direction: and infrared emitter target and an infrared sensor aiming system.

If you did it in that direction, you could use a lens and make the detector array much more compact.
Hmm, I think my accuracy limiting factor is the IR. Being the emitter/ or in another comment having a laser. And the gun comes after that precision and just aim the gun where those registering hits are, I can just match the IR precision I’d assume.
And ohhhh about the gun not being consistently accurate I think you mean. I’ll just make it go pretty fast. And we’re talking 6’-10’ range, I can make the tubing be 2foot if I need to. If I can make it be within 4” I’m happy.
this ‘dart board might be 4’ diameter. And 4” bullseye.
And about your last, interesting id have to think on that, I don’t think I’ll go in that direction tho to be honest. It does sound challenging/ impressive though. Which is the goal. Trying to get this project to give me an internship to whoever I show it too.
But I think it’s impressive enough having it be off-target to start and get on target without looking at it is fine.
And whoever else is reading, about the ending I might not do txt to voice and have a led screen to read instead.
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
18,766
Hi Z,
Exactly what does this mean.?

I want to make a ‘dartboard’ish thing that can tell me where bullseye is via IR sensors

E
BTW: I did read your text description, but it's a little vague.:)
A simple sketch would help
 

Thread Starter

ZekeSalea

Joined Nov 30, 2021
11
Hi Z,
Exactly what does this mean.?

I want to make a ‘dartboard’ish thing that can tell me where bullseye is via IR sensors

E
BTW: I did read your text description, but it's a little vague.:)
A simple sketch would help
Sorry to be vague, I’ll draw it up tomorow or so, Maybe saying the end state main idea will help, So in the end if it all works I can aim a suction cup gun at a board *off target to begin with*, and get on target at a bullseye, *without looking at the board and without looking at the gun, only following commands a program is telling me, from data IR recievers are making. Via a programmable logic control.
 

Thread Starter

ZekeSalea

Joined Nov 30, 2021
11
Sorry to be vague, I’ll draw it up tomorow or so, Maybe saying the end state main idea will help, So in the end if it all works I can aim a suction cup gun at a board *off target to begin with*, and get on target at a bullseye, *without looking at the board and without looking at the gun, only following commands a program is telling me, from data IR recievers are making. Via a programmable logic control.
I am just a student, and this project is just for fun; if successful it’s just for interview conversation purposes.

overview: I want to make a ‘dartboard’ish thing that can tell me where bullseye is via IR sensors and PLC and hopefully some type of txt-to-speech output.
So, the IR emitter where my ‘dart’ is will be like a suction cup gun thing with the emitter aimed to a glass dart board(because IR) <— (and receivers will be behind the glass), and the dart board will have a collage of IR recievers in each area of the dart board. And will be wired together in octants to feed 8 different signals/inputs to the PLC, being (up,down,left,right, up/left, up/right, down/right, down/left) <—- and those will be my txt-to-speech outputs to tell me where to aim for my bullseye, and I suppose I’ll have a bullseye IR reciever to tell me “on target”. And the outcome is I can aim a suction cup gun to hit the bullseye without me looking at it/ just hearing the output commands for adjustment.

I havnt started this at all,just like 3 days of thought into this. Some hiccups I can foresee are the preciseness of emitter to reciever it will have to be beam like to trigger an accurate command output. And IR acts more of a array with angles , I will look into narrowing the emitter with foil funneling maybe, and close the eye some of the recievers with foil. And will have to do research into TTS with the PLC outcome. That thought originated when I was thinking of doing this with Python and a raspberry pi. And it’s sort of simple to have a TTS. But I would rather use a PLC.

when looking further into this I read things like low-pass filters with resistors and capasictors on IR recievers, (the only knowledge I can get help on is looking into laser tag technology and it’s hard to translate into what I’m trying to do).

I suppose no specific questions right now but any pointers or guidance would be appreciated.

as of now my next steps was buying a emitter and a couple recievers with LED’S on them and start looking into the angles and precision that a reciever can see a signal(so that half a dart board won’t be seeing the IR emitter) and range, and by the way this will be on about a 6’-10’ range. Preferably.

if I’m in over my head and this project is worse than I think let me know lol. I have an associates degree in electromechanical tech, and a junior in engineering technology, so yall semi know my knowledge base. I don’t have a career in this.

*the second part of the project is the actual suction cup gun thing. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get this far but I might want it on a robotic tilt table programmed to a joy stick for aiming. And have a small pneumatic air gun with a toy suction cup thing, like the things the size of your finger. Electronically controlled.
update: about the ending if I get that far I may not do a txt-to-voice , and maybe use a arduino or raspberry pi pico with microPython code just for a LED txt display hooked up to the outputs of a PLC. For my up,down…. Commands. If using PLC outputs into microcontroller inputs is a thing. That would be a first for me.
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
18,766
hi Z,
Consider this option,
Square glass screen, an acoustic sensor on each of the edges or corner of the screen.
Compare the time delays from the impact noise of the dart, that would give a fairly good indication how far off and in which direction.
E

Update:
And an acoustic sensor behind the bulls eye
 

Thread Starter

ZekeSalea

Joined Nov 30, 2021
11
hi Z,
Consider this option,
Square glass screen, an acoustic sensor on each of the edges or corner of the screen.
Compare the time delays from the impact noise of the dart, that would give a fairly good indication how far off and in which direction.
E

Update:
And an acoustic sensor behind the bulls eye
Interesting, I might be liking that idea if I knew what to use for the emitter. What can be beam like so not all the acoustic sensors will go off at the same time all the time.
and find a 3prong sensor so I can have one for data and I might can read time delay on a PLC. I’m kinda trying to stay away from coding I’m not very efficient and only know Python.
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
18,766
hi Z,
You have it wrong.

Consider, the acoustic sensors [ cheap miniature microphones] pick up the sound of the dart hitting the target screen.
The time the sound travels from the hit to the 4 mikes detecting it will be different, from that difference the position of the hit on the plate can be calculated.

E
 

Thread Starter

ZekeSalea

Joined Nov 30, 2021
11
hi Z,
You have it wrong.

Consider, the acoustic sensors [ cheap miniature microphones] pick up the sound of the dart hitting the target screen.
The time the sound travels from the hit to the 4 mikes detecting it will be different, from that difference the position of the hit on the plate can be calculated.

E
Ooohhhhh I see. An issue I see is how loud my air gun will be. I could prolly make a spring kind, and the sensors can prolly be programmed to only detect a certain type of sound. I’ll look into it. I like this idea better I think.
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
18,766
hi Z,
The method does not use or care what the sound the Gun makes,
it is the impact noise of the dart,
hitting the target screen that is detected by the acoustic sensors affixed to the target screen edges.
E
 

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