Using IR Sensors to Time Solves
Concepts: infrared sensors, signal-to-noise ratio, Arduino, Python
Cube manufacturer YongJun (also referred to as YJ) recently released a speedcube timer that worked with IR sensors. Unfortunately, the timer had mixed reviews and was often cited as being unreliable. It was clear that the timer was flawed because of inconsistent amounts of light being emitted by the IR diodes. I tried tackling this problem by explaining how adding more senors would increase the signal-to-noise ratio and also made a concept timer out of simple components.
My prototype uses an Arduino connected to a pair of IR sensors. When the sensors are engaged, a status is sent to the computer, which is running a Python script. After the timer is stopped, the Python script executes a series of keypresses to enter the time into an online cube timer, csTimer.
My prototype uses an Arduino connected to a pair of IR sensors. When the sensors are engaged, a status is sent to the computer, which is running a Python script. After the timer is stopped, the Python script executes a series of keypresses to enter the time into an online cube timer, csTimer.