by WardC » Sat Dec 08, 2012 3:51 am
The fundamentals of what you want would be something like a robot moving forward that isn't supposed to bump into things.
The way to do that is to have two components - an infrared transmitter LED, and an infrared receiver device (looks like a LED in its most simple form). The trouble with just sending IR light and receiving it is there is a lot of IR light all around.
A better way is to buy an IR receiver which is the kind used in TVs, which decodes the signal to change channels, etc.
This type uses an oscillating signal at I think 38.5KHz, and then turns it on and off to signal the bits being sent.
You could thus use an IR LED oscillating on and off at 38.5KHz, and then turning that signal off and on (maybe 20 times a second).
Then you test your receiver for a signal. If it sees a 38.5KHz carrier going off and on, it will send a bit, while if it doesn't see it, it won't. You can see if this bit coincides with your transmitting LED.
Are these things you think you are capable of dealing with?
If you want circuits, just google IR Proximity Detector