I've been working on some designs for an infrared sensor. I started by searching for designs already on the internet and have been working on getting something that works with parts I have on hand, and then I'll keep working the design down to use very few parts and as much as what I have on hand even if it means using just transistors and resistors if I have to. The idea will be to design a reusable IR sensor module with a small footprint, so I can mount them where I need them and use them in future robots if I want to. I currently have a basic circuit working, but the next step will be to reduce the number of expensive parts.

[img picboard.jpg||right]I went ahead and designed the main PIC board. It ended up considerably smaller than the arduino, which I wasn't expecting. I had measured the holes on the arduino in order to help with stacking, but due to the size difference, I was able to only use 2 holes. I put a placement for a third one so I could mount the boards side-by-side if I wanted. I added placement for 2 extra channel connections if I wanted to include this in the future without having to remake the board. I decided to not include the MMC card on the board since it would have dramatically increased the size. Since I'm not using it at the moment (due to not having the extra memory on the arduino yet to handle the code), I will create a separate board later. I'll probably just end up tying that into a connector board that will fit on top of the arduino. However, I still want to experiment with sensors before making a final design on the connector board.

For sensors, I'm thinking of using the Ping, IR sensors, an accelerometer, maybe a noise sensor, temperature sensor, light/dark sensor, and any other ones I want to try. My plan is to make a standard connector for sensors (probably 3 pin for +5v, Ground, and Signal) and have places for digital and analog signals on the connector board (which is why it would be called a connector board, though I may end up calling it a sensor board depending on what I come up with.