ERIC’s light sensors
In this video, Richard shows how light sensors work in robots such as ERIC, the mobile robot built for the free online course, Begin Robotics.
Here we have a little set-up to illustrate a light sensor, in fact, quite a few light sensors. You can see an array of lights, and associated with each is a sensor. And at the moment, all of these are illuminated by light coming from the outside. But if I were to cover some of them, then a light sensor detects that and will turn it on the associated LED. So if I do that, you can see. Again, sweep the other way– depending on which of the lights lose the brightness, the sensors then the appropriate lights turn on. Here, more or less, just down one side. Here just about only covering this side.
So a nice little demonstration of what light senors can do. We can use those, and we do, in fact, use those on the ERIC.
Here we have the ERIC using its light sensor, and when it starts to see the light is going down, it turns away, so it goes back towards where the light is the brightest.
Going to turn the lights off to see what happens, whether it will move from its current region to the other one.
It’s now detected the new area, so ERIC has successfully moved from one region to the other.
In this video Richard shows how light sensors work in robots such as ERIC.
This demo is followed by a brief clip that shows some ERICs using their light sensors; ‘dancing’ in response to changing light stimuli.
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