Looking for a distance sensor

On one trip to England, I went into an Aldi store (German-owned, pile-'em-high-sell-'em cheap supermarket). No bar codes there, the checkout clerk just keyed the items into the register at high speed *from memory*!

No price tags on the merchandise, just on the pallets.

Ve haff vays ;-)

--
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence 
over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
                                       (Richard Feynman)
Reply to
Fred Abse
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On a sunny day (Tue, 05 Oct 2010 08:47:39 -0700) it happened Fred Abse wrote in :

That is the way Mc Donalds does it, they have litte pictures on the keys of the cash register, hamburger, cheesebuger, cola..

Some have lost them.

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

Yes, but there is very low risk of having the beam straight into your eyes because it is targeted at an area right in front of the register.

For measuring distance, you have to point it in a direction where there might be someone in between. And that, depending on the power of the laser, could prove dangerous.

Reply to
OBones

Alas, no, it's not the same thing and it can't be tempered with. Would have been much easier indeed

Reply to
OBones

Right, but I could "miss it" for a second or two without much risk.

Interesting. Must have to do with their power.

Reply to
OBones

Their US stores use scanners. Industrial shelving in their US stores with the prices above the item.

--
Politicians should only get paid if the budget is balanced, and there is
enough left over to pay them.
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

On a sunny day (Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:04:00 +0200) it happened OBones wrote in :

Just use 3 diagonal light beams interrupted by the 'thing'. that gives you 3 levels for alarm, blue orange red if you like. That system has been used many times. Cheap and reliable.

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

assume.

ible. ;-)

With a VISIBLE laser and power below 1mW your blink reflex saves your eye before there is any damage. 1mW is about the same amount of power as staring into the sun. So low power visible lasers can be used... they are also cheap!

But if you can't stick any retro-reflective tape on the 'thing' it's more difficult.

George H.

Reply to
George Herold

I like that idea. Needs more installation steps but can be quite interesting as a "low cost" option if I can't find a nice sensor

Reply to
OBones

assume.

;-)

Ah nice, quite interesting.

Reply to
OBones

On a sunny day (Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:40:31 +0200) it happened OBones wrote in :

If you use a RGB LED, and connect the first detector to red, the second to green, and the thrird (closest) to blue, then you get, when the 'thing' approaches: Red (only first beam broken). Yellow (= red + green, first and second beam broken). White (= red + green + blue, all three beams broken).

Or you can reverse sequence to by havin ga beamswit hoff a LED. white (far away) yellow (closer) red (closest) Or many other color combinations that can all be made in a simple way.

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

Well, that's a "few". ;-)

Reply to
krw

Aldi (same company?) is on this side of the pond, too, though not the same format at all. It's supposed to be cheaper but I didn't think so.

Reply to
krw

Can your objects have bar code stickers attached? Then just get one of the bar code readers like they use at the supermarket checkout.

Good Luck! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

Prices are similar to Save-A-Lot but lower than Publix, Albersons, Winn-Dixie or Sweetbay.

--
Politicians should only get paid if the budget is balanced, and there is
enough left over to pay them.
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

They had them in Ohio when I was there. I wasn't impressed.

Reply to
krw

read,

Mine works quite well. I paid $5 for it in a thrift store.

--
Politicians should only get paid if the budget is balanced, and there is
enough left over to pay them.
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

AFAICS, there aren't any stores west of Kansas. That's probably why I've never seen one.

--
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence 
over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
                                       (Richard Feynman)
Reply to
Fred Abse

This was just a standard register, 3-column keypad.

I don't think the McDonald's scheme would work with several hundred (changing) product lines.

--
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence 
over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
                                       (Richard Feynman)
Reply to
Fred Abse

Thanks, but I don't want to identify them but know how far they are from the sensor. Using a bar code reader won't help me here...

Reply to
OBones

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