I like the laser source in the car, but having her trying to follow a dot on the wall...no. Can someone think of a way to electronically detect left of a line or right of a line?
Tennis ball and string... out of the question... I seek an elegant solution >:-} ...Jim Thompson
Den torsdag den 31. august 2017 kl. 02.08.38 UTC+2 skrev Jim Thompson:
don't use a point, get a laser that projects a line
Project that line so it makes a vertical line on the back wall of the garage. Photo sensors on the wall then trigger a bank of HDTV screens to point the way back to center. Radar proximity sensors then flash a big red light to stop at the appropriate point. as would any photo sensors that were too far off center. Elegant enough? No? Use your imagination on what to display on the TV screens until it is elegant enough for you. Or just cut to the chase and ask the boss what she prefers. That way you may not have to redo it again later, BTDT GTTS.
Larkin's vertical piece of wood or metal and red/green lights is simple and easy to detect and fix a failure. And any redneck would be proud of it. Art
are you prepared to embed wires in the driveway?
use a projector, or a lenticular sheet with left and right arrow images, passive optical solutions are simpler than actve electonics.
If she is that short she probably has problems judging how far to pull into parking spaces and the like, so get one of those video cameras for backing up, and mount it on the front. Lots more useful than just something in the garage. If your car already has a rear camera maybe you can tie the front one into the same screen. Leave the front view on all the time and use the backup lights to switch to the rear view.
I was hoping, since this is supposedly an electronics experts' group, for some elegant sensor method to, perhaps, indicate the car's centering (equal spacing), for instance, between the two "walls" ???
... that I could then flash left and right arrows accordingly. ...Jim Thompson
That's a bang-bang control loop. Something more analog and intuitive would be easier for a short lady to use.
Wonder what the capacitance is between a car and a wall ?>:-} ...Jim Thompson
Den torsdag den 31. august 2017 kl. 19.35.33 UTC+2 skrev Jim Thompson:
at has to an electronic Rube Goldberg machine ? ;)
how about a big mirror high on the end wall at a slight downward angle with the center line marked with tape?
Or design a nice impulse radar system. 100 picosecond resolution should be good enough.
Why not just visual alignment assist? That would be easy.
Just hang two tennis balls from the ceiling on strings.
How about a pillow (under her) or something such. You said later you want an elegant solution, get an elegant pillow or electronic for eletronic solution.
[snip]
I thought of that... acoustic would be quite adequate.
I think I can make Artemus' *line* suggestion work. Just need to figure out how to "lase" (automatically of course :-) only when approaching the garage... and a "target" that walkers won't bang their head on.
Isn't this sci dot *electronics* dot design ?>:-} ...Jim Thompson
A *vibrating* pillow ?>:-} ...Jim Thompson
It's a zen thing. The easiest way to design electronics is to not design electronics.
... and motorcycle maintenance ?:-) Good book!
(I can't impress my neighbors with tennis balls ;-) ...Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson wrote on 8/28/2017 7:00 PM:
I don't know where Hobbes is, but here's Calvin with a laser.
Didn't they do that in the 1930's for landing approach?
If it could be done with a few tubes...
+1
Jim Thompson wrote on 8/28/2017 7:44 PM:
A friend used to do that with a tennis ball (or maybe it was a ping-pong ball) hanging from a string so it touched the windshield just below the mirror.
Before that she lined up the corner of the fender with a spot on the work bench in the garage and stopped when the tire hit a piece of 2x4 laying on the floor. Talk about high tech!
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