[Swlug] Tracking system

[Rhys Sage]

I've been doing battle with the Raspberry Pi Pico quite a lot lately. After it refused to give me worthwhile results from a very simple circuit - photo resistor with one side going to 3v3 and the other going to ADC0 and to a 10K resistor with the other end of the resistor going to GND, I moved on. Now I'm using an Arduino Metro though when they become available I'll probably switch to the Arduino Nano. The biggest difference is now instead of Python I have to use C++. Fortunately I have plenty books on C++ having used that quite a bit in the past, lastly with Borland C++Builder. I went to Delphi just about the time Borland was taken over by Embaracado.

Now I have 3 photo resistors working with 3 of the 6 ADCs on the Arduino. The next stage will be to drive two electric motors. I do have a pair of H bridges but I might try to drive them using power transistors. I have a pile of those. I'll likely run the whole setup off 9v since the Arduino can take 7-9v. I might even try it off a 9v battery and see how that goes. I doubt it'll use much power though the motors will cause slight surges.

The aim is to get the tracking working with light sensors before switching to microphones and doing noise tracking. The next step from noise tracking will be noise ranging and then predictive positioning, firing a lazer at the point where a moving noise emanates. All fun stuff.

As for the next online meeting... I presume that'll be tomorrow (21st)? I'll likely be at work so I might be able to connect from work - assuming they've quit sending me to far flung offices. Last month I was always somewhere else.

Rhys Sage