Need suggestions for a micro-controller that can read an I.R sensor and communicate over Bluetooth

Thread Starter

Rion Developer

Joined Oct 19, 2018
1
First time poster here so go easy!

I'm a 4th year Computer Engineering student and my group and I are making an IOT smart car parking system. Part of that system will be units that are capable of of reading a basic I.R sensor, so we can detect if a parking space is available or not, and communicating that info over bluetooth 4.0. We are not allowed to use Arduino's and I'm not familiar with any micro-controllers so I was hoping someone could give me some options I can research that will work some common/affordable I.R sensors.

I found this(https://www.rakeshmondal.info/IR-object-detection) tutorial that looks promising but it doesn't look like the PIC18F4550 can communicate over bluetooth 4.0.

Suggestions for sensors would also be appreciated!

Thanks!!
 

danadak

Joined Mar 10, 2018
4,057

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joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
If I had to do this I'd get a cheap little Bluetooth module like this:
https://howtomechatronics.com/tutorials/arduino/arduino-and-hc-05-bluetooth-module-tutorial/

It connects via a serial port, so all the processor needs is a UART.

It seems as if every piece of online literature about buying or using one of these modules mentions "Arduino". It's never a necessity--almost any microcontroller can do the same things.
He said "4.0", i.e, BLE. SPP doesn't apply, IMHO.
 

John P

Joined Oct 14, 2008
2,025
I have to admit that the 4.0 part of "Bluetooth 4.0" passed by without me noticing.

But I'll repeat what I said--there are interface modules that connect to a UART, not so cheap if it has to be Bluetooth LE, but still not vastly expensive. Like this:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2479

Keep it simple, or this will become a project about using Bluetooth, not designing that IOT smart car parking system.
 

John P

Joined Oct 14, 2008
2,025
In any design project, we have to resist the temptation to try to design what we can easily buy from someone else! If there's a modular Bluetooth link available, then the right solution (unless they're explicitly being told "Design a Bluetooth link") is to get it, install it, and start using it.
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
In any design project, we have to resist the temptation to try to design what we can easily buy from someone else! If there's a modular Bluetooth link available, then the right solution (unless they're explicitly being told "Design a Bluetooth link") is to get it, install it, and start using it.
It's a sad era if computer engineering has evolved into a process of simply stacking Legos.
 

danadak

Joined Mar 10, 2018
4,057
Pros and cons using off the shelf.

Cons -

1) You have no control over feature set.
2) If vendor obsoletes or goes out of biz you are up proverbial creek w/o a paddle.
3) If your end customer requires customization you are limited as to what you can do.
4) You cannot pick, in general, component suppliers used.
5) Module key components go on allocation you are at the mercy of module guys
allocation behavior.

Pros -

1) Time to market.
2) Development costs usually lower.
3) No significant standards testing costs.


Regards, Dana.
 

ArakelTheDragon

Joined Nov 18, 2016
1,362
First time poster here so go easy!

I'm a 4th year Computer Engineering student and my group and I are making an IOT smart car parking system. Part of that system will be units that are capable of of reading a basic I.R sensor, so we can detect if a parking space is available or not, and communicating that info over bluetooth 4.0. We are not allowed to use Arduino's and I'm not familiar with any micro-controllers so I was hoping someone could give me some options I can research that will work some common/affordable I.R sensors.

I found this(https://www.rakeshmondal.info/IR-object-detection) tutorial that looks promising but it doesn't look like the PIC18F4550 can communicate over bluetooth 4.0.

Suggestions for sensors would also be appreciated!

Thanks!!
Can I ask which university did not allow you to use Arduino? As I smell the programmers approach.
 

Sensacell

Joined Jun 19, 2012
3,432
It's a sad era if computer engineering has evolved into a process of simply stacking Legos.
Agreed, and when they don't work, nobody has a clue what's going on under the Lego hood.

That's a good bit of the reason why today's products are so wonky and unstable, incompatible Legos, fighting it out in the dark.
 

Sensacell

Joined Jun 19, 2012
3,432
Looking at the link for the "IR object detector"- this simplistic device will be very unreliable under real world conditions.
Ambient light will totally knock this thing haywire.

Any system is only as good as the information it gets from it's sensors.
in this case I would research the sensor aspect more, it's critical that you can sense the presence / absence of a car reliably- this task is actually non-trivial.
 

ArakelTheDragon

Joined Nov 18, 2016
1,362
Looking at the link for the "IR object detector"- this simplistic device will be very unreliable under real world conditions.
Ambient light will totally knock this thing haywire.

Any system is only as good as the information it gets from it's sensors.
in this case I would research the sensor aspect more, it's critical that you can sense the presence / absence of a car reliably- this task is actually non-trivial.
It will take them an year to make this device properly, thats why I said that I smell the programmers approach(put Arduino and do not care). This is why I prefer not to tell them how to do it, as you are right, they will just be stacking legos and at the end "the hardware developer is bad".....
 

daisy56

Joined Mar 30, 2018
8
If you know the parking space capacity then you can make a project with TMG39931 sensor using ESP8266 or Zigbee module and by using some counter method you will be able to create the smart parking system easily.

I Hope these modules will work great the way you want to be helpful in making your project.
 
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