The safety and
security specialist.
Watch it slip by
without bumping things.
Ultrasonic Sensors
LIBRARY
#07
Profile
- It finds obstacles and measures distances.
- It uses “ultrasound”, a type of sound people can’t hear.
The Power of Ultrasonic Sensors
Measuring distances with sound.
For example, robot vacuum cleaners can move without bumping into things thanks to ultrasound sensors.
When sound hits something, it bounces back to where it came from. These sensors can tell there’s something out there when they hear their own sounds bounce back to them.
They calculate the time from when the sound goes out until the sound comes back, and that tells them how far they are from bumping into something.
The Secret of the Power of Ultrasonic Sensors
Ultrasonic sensors fill two roles!
The “piezoelectric ceramics” used for these sensors can turn sound (vibrations in the air) into electric signals.
They can also make sounds by making a sensor vibrate. They fulfill two roles to check how far away things are!
Friends of Ultrasonic Sensors
Also used in printers!
Ultrasonic sensors don’t just find obstacles.
Printers use them to check if there are too many sheets of paper, and avoid printing on two pages at once.
Trivia
What is ultrasound?
QUESTION
Sound moves at about 340 meters per second. Some planes fly at about 7 times the speed of sound!
Find the Ultrasonic Sensor!
