The Polaroid SX-70 Sonar (click to enlarge)

This page is a placeholder about ultrasonic sensors.

Most hobbyist robots use a commonly-available ultrasonics module (typically called an HC-SR04 or something similar) that costs a few dollars.

I've been using a driver board from PiBorg called the UltraBorg that has both support for four servos and four HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors, with a support library in Python.

SensComp Ultrasonics#

A more advanced sensor is available from SensComp, which uses a transducer similar to those found in the Polaroid SX-70 Sonar camera, circa 1978. These sensors are have a longer range and are more sensitive than their cheaper brethren. I contacted SensComp and received more information about their sensors. See the documents attached to this page.

SensComp offers a complete Development kit using the Arduino. This is the Smart Sensor Ultrasonic Development Kit For Arduino, attached is a spec sheet for the kit. I have also included the spec sheet for the Smart sensor itself which can also be purchased separately. Also attached is the code for the development kit.

According to SensComp there is currently no known Python/MicroPython port of the Arduino C code.