As part of our second Intangible Interactions assignment we had to research and test some things about 2 sensors we were assigned.
We began our sensor research with an IR Break-beam sensor WITH ✨premium✨ Wire Header Ends
An break beam sensor is a very simple way to detect motion.
It’s what you think of when you think of when you imagine a museum holding something precious
They work by having an emitter sensor that sends out a beam of human-invisible IR light, then a receiver across the way which is sensitive to that same light. When something passes between the two, and its not transparent to IR, then the 'beam is broken' and the receiver will let you know.
When looking at the data sheet we found a lot of helpful specifications like
But when we tested out the sensing distance we realized that it actually worked for ~19” inches instead! Although you would still want to follow the data sheet instead of the max as it starts to become unreliable
Now let’s look at the pros and cons of the device
Pros