Ultrasonic Rangefinder Capability

Whilst setting up the "Sumo" ring, we had a few moments to think about where this all might go and what we might need from it in the future. Getting a sumo robot to detect an edge and to then turn away from it is an important step. Making the sumobot have ultrasonic functionality is the next step!

This is an ultrasonic rangefinder manufactureed by seeed electronics. In simple terms it sends out a sound wave and then measures the time it takes for the wave to return to the unit. Assuming that most returned sound waves "Bounce" off an object, with cunning programming you can make a robot sense distance.

This image shows the scale of the rangefinder. Note that the image shows two micro-controllers, in fact we will of course only use one. The fritzing diagram for connection to the Uno R3 and the SEN136B5B sensor is shown below...