I am entering a robotics competition where there are two beacons placed in two corners of a square playing field (shown as the "O" below in my ascii art lol).
-----------------------
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|O::::::::::::::::::::::O|
-----------------------
The left beacon modulates its IR light at 2.5kHz and the right beacon modulates IR light at 5.0 kHz. I realize it might be possible to get positional information from these two beacons. If you are able to find the angle to each beacon relative to your robot, you could do some trig and get your position. My first question is how would one detect this modulated IR light (50% duty cycle). Would it be as simple as designing a circuit with a phototransistor/photodiode, a comparator for a threshold value, and connecting the output to a microcontroller? Are there readily available modules that will detect and be able to distinguish between the two signals of IR light at these frequencies? Every commercial module that I have found is specifically for a carrier frequency of 38-40kHz. This module could then be mounted to a servo of some type to get the angular position of the light. Is this even what the competition designers had in mind when they set up two separate beacons. Any advice or suggestions are welcome. I am pretty new to robotics, but I am fairly well versed in electronics.
-----------------------
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::::::|
|O::::::::::::::::::::::O|
-----------------------
The left beacon modulates its IR light at 2.5kHz and the right beacon modulates IR light at 5.0 kHz. I realize it might be possible to get positional information from these two beacons. If you are able to find the angle to each beacon relative to your robot, you could do some trig and get your position. My first question is how would one detect this modulated IR light (50% duty cycle). Would it be as simple as designing a circuit with a phototransistor/photodiode, a comparator for a threshold value, and connecting the output to a microcontroller? Are there readily available modules that will detect and be able to distinguish between the two signals of IR light at these frequencies? Every commercial module that I have found is specifically for a carrier frequency of 38-40kHz. This module could then be mounted to a servo of some type to get the angular position of the light. Is this even what the competition designers had in mind when they set up two separate beacons. Any advice or suggestions are welcome. I am pretty new to robotics, but I am fairly well versed in electronics.