A typical reflective object sensor consists of an infrared light emitter diode (IRED) and an NPN silicon phototransistor mounted side-by-side on parallel axes in a compact black plastic housing. The ...

Everyone is familiar with pinwheels, and few of us haven’t crafted one from a square of paper, a stick, and a pin. Pinwheels are pretty optimized from a design standpoint, and are so cheap and easy to ...

Figure 1a shows a slotted optical switch. An LED is mounted in a plastic housing, facing a phototransistor, but separated by a gap. If something moves into the gap, it blocks the light path between ...

When you’re designing miniature optical switches, reflective sensors are your best friend. They streamline the interaction between humans and machines in an elegant and intuitive manner. These sensors ...

What's behind the target can make a tremendous difference in how well reflective sensors do their job. Consider a photoelectric sensor operating in simple diffused mode (i.e., as a proximity sensor).

Electronic enthusiasts may be interested in a new open source infrared sensor which has been created to support both Raspberry Pi and Arduino powered projects. The IR Detector proximity sensor has ...

Inductive sensors are non-contact proximity sensors that detect ferrous targets, ideally ones made of mild steel thicker than one millimeter. They consist of four major components: a ferrite core with ...

Once you have a track and a kart to race on it, what’s missing? A lap counter that can give your lap times in hardcopy, obviously! That’s what led [the_anykey] to create the Arduino-based Lap Timer to ...