IR Tracker

Team Members

• Mark Straccia (Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2009)
• Matt Turpin (Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2009)
• Alice Zhao (Electrical Engineering, Class of 2008)

Overview

The IR Tracker is a device that detects the position of an infrared emitter in two axises, and orients itself to get in line with the emitter.

The goal of our project was:

This is how it works:

We will discuss:

Mechanical Design

The primary components used in this circuit are:

• Plexiglas
• Turntable (part number, vendor, cost, when available)
• Mirror (part number, vendor, cost, when available)

The goals:

• Pitman Motors - constantly detect location of the emitter
• RC Servos - move the device to get align with emitter

Electrical Design

The primary components used in this circuit are:

• Controller (PIC)
• H-Bridge
• Hall Sensors
• Schmidt Triggers

Code

See full code here

Results

Our resulting design:

Reflections

• More planning
• Simpler mechanical design
• More efficient code