ROBOTMAK3RS Blog

This Checkout Scanner project I posted recently uses the NXT 2.0 Color Sensor in Light Sensor mode to scan simple "barcodes" made out of LEGO beams and imitate a laser barcode scanner. The interesting thing is how fast it is able to work (the standard light sensor would be as fast as well). Here is a video of the scanner in action: This project was inspired a bit by one of the missions on the FLL board this year, the Medicine Dispenser, where teams might want to use a light sensor to count black lines on the mat to get the exact distance right. My team was doing this mission and driving very slowly to make sure the sensor was able to count the lines properly. As I was watching them, I was thinking this was one of those cases where your instincts as a human don't relate well to what a robot can do. I knew the sensor could work much faster (and therefore the motor response is the limiting factor, not the sensor), but I was curious how much faster. So I did some tes...