This Forum is Dedicated For all The Object Oriented PIC Lovers .......... The concept behind OOPic is straight forward. Use preprogrammed multitasking Objects from a library of highly optimized Objects to do all the work of interacting with the hardware. Then write small scripts in Basic, C, or Java syntax styles to control the Objects. During operation, the Objects run continuously and simultaneously in the background while the scripts run in the foreground telling the objects what to do.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Re: [oopic] Re: New range finder needed

On Mar 18, 2008, at 9:14 AM, dan michaels wrote:

> --- In oopic@yahoogroups.com, Brian Lloyd <brian-wb6rqn@...> wrote:
>>
>
>
> As it turns out, a couple of months ago I bought an inexpensive $10
> laser level, and then completely forgot about it. Found it in a box
> yesterday. It transmits both a bright spot and also a less bright
> straight line, emanating from the spot. It is very interesting to
> scan it around onto different surfaces. You can easily distinquish
> different shapes by how the "line" beam bends around the surfaces.

This is the system I was describing a week ago.

> For boxlike shapes, you see 2 straight beams at an angle, with a bend
> at the edge of the box.

If you think about it, for vertical serfaces, the "altitude"
corresponds to distance to that point on the scan line.

> For complex-shaped objects, you see multiple discontinuities in the
> reflected beam.
>
> For close on objects, you see a discontinuous line, as the beam falls
> off the edge of the object. It's easy to distinquish an object
> isolated from the background.

Yes.

> You can also do rough ranging measurements directly. Eg, at 6" from a
> flat surface, the line beam is 4" long. Of course, if the surface is
> not perpendicular to the sensor, then the line is elongated.
>
> I am thinking one could use 2 such devices [or else laser pointers
> with line outputs], one with a vertical beam and one with a
> horizontal beam to pan around on a 2-D servo mount. I imagine the
> beams are bright enough, compared to normal ambient lighting, that
> one could easily filter the red output from a vid-cam, and isolate
> the beams from the background. This technique is like simple computer
> vision with about 10,000X less processing power required.

Yes.

> One probably needs to adopt some safety measures, so the beams aren't
> projected directly in people's eyes. Also, depending upon the
> sensitivty of the vid-cam used, it may be possible to reduce the beam
> intensity.

Yes. Also consider using an IR laser so the beam in not visible. Most
silicon-based imagers are more sensitive in the near-IR anyway, thus
allowing you to reduce output. Also, most lasers work at specific
emission lines for which narrow-band low-loss filters are available.
You place that in front of your imager to reduce noise from ambient
light.

--

Brian Lloyd Granite Bay Montessori
brian AT gbmontessori DOT com 9330 Sierra College Blvd.
+1.916.367.2131 (voice) Roseville, CA 95661, USA

http://www.gbmontessori.com

I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . .
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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