any electricians among you?

[Hudson']

This should give you abit of a head start:
http://www.iguanalabs.com/mbktut/

 

[Hudson']

Hoe does your IR sensor react to IR light. (does it produce current? or does its resistance change?)

What current and voltage does your IR emmiter need?

well it depends if its a photodiode or a phototransistor, with a phototransistor it just turns on and off, with a photodiode i think theres a resistance change. The current and voltage for an IR emmiter varies from manufacture but its usually around 1-6v.

 

[John C]

Thats what i was asking him, while trying to avoid big words like phototransistor

 

[snowythehobo]

ok...

ok guys lets assume i dont have any stuff ( a. i cant find them: b. i dont know what i bought or if its right)

can u explain what a microswitch is? is a switch which would be physically pressed by the ball? it sounds a lot easier and just effective but if it does have a physical prescense would it disrupt the feeding?

if anyone would explain what i need to buy and roughly how to assemble it it would be really helpful and i will be eternally in your debt!

basically talk to me like i have no knowledge of electronics (which u are )

thanks very much


edit after talking with a teacher -
basically ive had a talk and the microswitch idea seems to be a lot easier for this project.
so i think i need:

MICROSWITCH
CIRCUIT BOARD
VARIABLE RESISTOR (TO SET MOTOR SPEED?)
MOTOR
SWITCH

would this work guys?

thanks for the help

 

[TOOLE]

your only problem there is that you need the motor to go when the switch ISN'T pressed, therefore you need to use a PIC, ask your teacher, you'll probably need another resistor or two as well to work the PIC.

If your teacher doesn't know what a PIC is, he isn't really a tech teacher!

 

[Munkeh]

Why not just use a Push To Break microswitch?

 

[John C]

Good idea!


The simplest solutions are often the most effective!

 

[snowythehobo]

yea thats what i was going to get?
so its all kosher yea?

is there any reputable places preferably online in the uk which sell components aprt from maplins?


thanks guys youve been a great help

 

[Munkeh]

Why not just buy em from Maplins?

 

[TOOLE]

damn, managed to forget that PTB microswitches existed

yeah sound simple enough to me, you just have tomake sure that on the marker that you will be testing the thing on, the ball is making a clean contact with the switch.

Dude, just buy from mapling, it's never gonna cost you more than a fiver, and buy a servo motor (they use these in eggys and revvies) from a model car shop.