Ok, it took a bit longer than expected. But here is my version of the Vernier CBR2. That sensor is basically a ultrasonic distance sensor. All the other data is calculated based on distance changes over time. I’m using the HC-SR04, which is a very cheap ultrasonic distance sensor. Depending on how long you want to wait, you can get it for less than two Dollars;-) Amazon has many offers which essentially differ in the shipping time(cheap from China or Prime for around $6).
This sensor has so many examples of interfacing it to an Arduino, so that this post does not really offer much new info:-( I just wanted to add it to the list to be complete. I added an extra LED as an visual indicator how quickly the sensor cycles, but that’s about it.
My little sketch just writes the measured distance in cm to the serial port. All the `higher level’ calculations would be done on the computer side. It would also be easy to add a time stamp for each distance. The sketch is here: SonarSensor.tar
The sensor works pretty well;-)
As always, have fun experimenting.
— Marco