SONAR Height Measuring
Instrument
Introduction:
This Project is a height measuring tool which is based on the principle of ultra sonic sensing.
Measuring accurate height of any object or product accurately & precisely in industries is very important and crucial to maintain quality and the desired function. This Instrument is based on the above principle; it is user friendly, one just needs to place the object in the box.
1. Electronics Components Used
(i) Arduino UNO
The Arduino board actually is a specially designed circuit board for programming and prototyping with
Atmel microcontrollers building digital devices and interactive objects that can sense and control objects in the physical world. I’ve used it to calculate the height of the object and to display it on the LCD screen.
(ii )HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor
The HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor uses sonar to determine distance to an object like bats or dolphins do. It offers excellent non-contact range detection with high accuracy and stable readings in an easy-to-use package, from 2cm to 400 cm or 1” to 13 feet. It operation is not affected by sunlight or black material like Sharp rangefinders are (although acoustically soft materials like cloth can be difficult to detect). It comes complete with ultrasonic transmitter and receiver module.
(iii) LCD Display Screen
Here I’ve used a 16X2 LCD display as a medium of interface between the micro controller and the user.
2. Calculations Involved
Here, the HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor can only find out the distance from the sensor to the object, but we need to know the height of the object. For that I’ve placed the sensor at the top of the device which will measure the distance of the object from it, and then the microcontroller will subtract that distance from the original height of the box (which comes out to be 31 cm).
I’ve done so by programming the microcontroller in such a way.
3. Program:
//Libraries
#include <Ultrasonic.h>
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
//Setup connection with LCD and HC-SR04
LiquidCrystal lcd(8,9,4,5,6,7);
Ultrasonic ultrasonic(A3,A4);
int h;
//h represents the height of object
void setup() {
//Lcd init
lcd.begin(16, 2); //16 rows, 2 columns
}
void loop()
{
lcd.clear();
lcd.print("distance: ");
lcd.print(ultrasonic.Ranging(CM));
lcd.print("cm");
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print("height: ");
h=31-(ultrasonic.Ranging(CM));
// calculating height of object.
lcd.print(h);
lcd.print("cm");
delay(1000); // 1sec delay
}
4. Advantages over other measuring tools:
(i)Can Measure Compressible object
While measuring of a compressible or soft object with some common distance or height measuring tools like Venire caliper, screw gauge we get an inappropriate measurement as all of them have jaws which compresses the object.
But in case of SONAR height measuring instrument there are no jaws to compress the object, hence we can accurately measure distance or height of compressible objects in it.
(ii)Doesn’t require special skills:
To measure height of an object with most of the height/ distance measuring tools like Venire caliper, Screw gauge, it requires some special skill and experience to measure the object accurately and precisely. But it is very easy to use SONAR height measuring instrument, all you need to do is place your object in it.
(iii)Increase in precession and accuracy:
Sophisticated Ultra Sonic sensors can be used to measure height of objects more accurately, and lot more precisely, than other common height measuring tools like Venire caliper, screw gauge.
5. Importance of accurate measurement in industries
One of the most important factors in running a successful business is the ability to maintain control in quality. Just like the C.E.O who controls how the finances are managed, accurately controlling the industrial processes that go on behind the scenes in any industry is just as important. When you control the time, flow, rate, distance, amount or any other critical industrial measurements, you streamline your process and economize your resources. The result is increased productivity with reduced cost.
6. Possible Improvements
(I) Addition of ‘ZERO’ button.
(II) Use of more precise ultrasonic sensor.