Chapter 7. Navigating with Infrared Headlights

 

The BOE Shield-Bot can already use whiskers to get around, but it only detects obstacles when it bumps into them.   Wouldn’t it be better if the BOE Shield-Bot could just “see” objects and then decide what to do about them?  Well, that’s what it can do with infrared headlights and eyes like the ones shown below.  Each headlight is an infrared LED inside a tube that directs the light forward, just like a flashlight.  Each eye is an infrared receiver that sends the Arduino high/low signals to indicate whether it detects the infrared LED’s light reflected off an object.

Diagram of infrared light leaving emitter, reflecting off a wall and hitting receiver

Code Update Notice
The Chapter 7 Arduino Code was updated on 11/15/2012.  See the notice on this page for details.