Application tips needed: Measure distance of fast moving object

[system]

Hi all,

I'm working on a project where I need to measure the distance of a ball that passes past a sensor.
The problem is that the ball is small (3 cm in diameter) and it moves at a relative high speed (lets say 5 m/s).
So I need a measurement rate of at least 150Hz.
The sensor needs a range of 60 cm.

I already thought of the following:

• Ultrasonic sensors are not possible, because they are too slow.
• Most IR distance sensors (the cheap ones) have only a measurement rate of about 20Hz.
• For example this IR sensor: http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/index.php?title=Twig_-_80cm_Infrared_Proximity_Sensor_v0.9 claims to be 'continuous'.
  Is this true? And if so, can I connect it to the Arduino Uno R3 and get my readings at 150Hz?

I really hope you can help me with this.

Sincerely,

Simon

[johnwasser]

If you look up the GP2Y0A21YK datasheet you will find that is does readings periodically.

Perhaps if your said what you were trying to do, someone could suggest a way to do it that does not require measuring both presence and distance.