Spring 2017 Velociraptor: RGB Color Sensor
Authors
By: Mohammar Mairena
Approved By: Jesus Enriquez
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Velociraptor will compete in a game similar to Pacman. One of the requirements is that the Velociraptor shall attempt to collect as many red dots as possible while navigating the maze utilizing either a static or dynamic walk. As a result, we will be using an IR sensor to detect the dots in the maze. My choice for the color sensor is the Sparkfun RGB Color Sensor. The reason I chose this specific sensor (APDS-9960) is because of the detection range and the operating voltage at 3.3 volts. In comparison to other sensors, this one has a lengthy detection range of 4-8 inches.
Analysis
The SparkFun sensor includes examples of Arduino library code for color sensing and proximity detection. I tested the color sensor and proximity sensor with the library code. After hooking up the sensor to the breadboard and uploading the code, I placed different colors up to the sensor. I had a hard time distinguishing colors using the serial monitor on the Arduino interface.
Conclusion
In retrospect, the SparkFun RGB Color Sensor is an ideal infrared sensor for the Pacman game however, detecting the different colors (red, blue, green) proved to be very difficult. Another disadvantage of this sensor is that it is very miniscule and would only detect the red dots if they were large in size. Completing this experiment helped me realize how minute the sensor was and how important it is going to be to correctly place the sensor on the robot.
Resources
- https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12787