Extending the Wire Length of HCSR04

Other Hardware Sensors
1

Hi all,

I have a bunch of those very common HCSR04 ultrasonic distance sensors. I want to connect one of them to an Arduino.

But here's the catch - I want the wires that make the connection to be extremely long (10-15ft) and still get accurate distance readings.

I'm worried that this length will cause dropoff that make readings innacurate or impossible.

What would be the best way to improve the range? Perhaps step up the power somehow on the outgoing connection to the sensor, and then step it down on the sensor side?

I don't know how to do this and am open to suggestions. I'd like to use as little additional hardware as possible.

I'm also curious about the nature of the wires themselves. I could use my typical project hookup wire, but was also thinking a ribbon cable might be a neater solution. Maybe I could repurpose some kind of high connectivity cable, like an Ethernet or something.

Thanks!

2

The signal over the line will be digital pulses so 10-15 ft should be no problem.
Have you already tried it if it just worked?

If there is interference (as every wire is an antenna) you could solve this by placing a 2nd arduino near the sensor, make a measurement and communicate the data to the "mothership" over RS485.

This latter looks like RS232 but is designed for long distances (up to 1000's feet) by using differential signaling. There are breakout boxes that have the chips (Adafruit Sparkfun et al)

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Are you sure it actually needs improving?
Have you done tests to see how the accuracy is affected?

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