I'm badly visually impared in one eye and find judging distances while walking downhill hard. My goal is to create a real time range finder than can display the distance of the next step(s) while at normal walking pace. for example: walking down a 4 in 1 hill on an uneven forrest path.
First step is to choose a method of range finding that is lightweight, low power, accurate to within 5cm and returns distances in real time. The range of the device needs to be 50cm to 500cm. The target area for measurement needs to be about 10cm square.
This is my first attempt at this kind of device and know nothing of what types of sensors even exist, so even research suggestions would be useful.
So, what types of sensors exist that could return a realtime distance measurement?
Best Answer
As suggested ultrasonic sensors are cheap and gives usable readouts, but it depends on the beam width which tends to spread in wider radius when used on longer distance. Also if used on porous/spongy ground, beam will be dampen.
I would not rely only on ultrasonic sensor. I would combine it with IR and returns the mean value of both outputs.