NEX ROBOTICS FIREBIRD V ATMEGA 2560 Hardware Manual page 54

Fire Bird V ATMEGA2560 Hardware Manual
3.12A Ultrasonic sensor Interfacing:
Fire Bird V primarily uses Sharp IR range sensors but sometime they are not easily available in
market. In year 2010 and 2011 they ware in acute shortage. Hence Fire Bird V's main board
version 11 also have support for ultrasonic range sensors. But as a designer I will always prefer
Sharp IR range sensors.
FireBird V robot can be equipped with the 5 ultrasonic sensors from MaxBotix. Each sensor can
sense distance range from 6 inches to 254 inches. Ultrasonic sensor transmits a narrow beam of
ultrasonic pulse and measures time taken for echo of the beam. It gives output proportional to
time taken for the ultrasonic beam to return echo from the obstacle.
FireBird V robot supports almost all compact ultrasonic range sensors from MaxBotix. Most of
the time robot uses EZ0 to EZ4 series sensors from MaxBotix. Sensor gives out analog output
with 1 inch resolution. It gives output voltage of 9.8mV per inch. After powering up, for first
100mS sensor runs calibration cycle. After that it can give readings with 49mS interval.
Figure below shows locations of the ultrasonic sensors. They are numbered as 1 to 5 from left to
right in clockwise direction.
Figure 3.44a: Five Ultrasonic Range Sensors on Fire Bird V
© NEX Robotics Pvt. Ltd. and ERTS Lab, CSE, IIT Bombay, INDIA 54