Hello! Complete newbie here but not unfamiliar with arduino. I am working on a project that needs proximity sensing. My hands proximity should be detected 3 or so inches away from a antenna. Ive tried the diy approach and it works well for touch but not proximity.
A basic search yields some results but they mostly comment on touch capability vs proximity.
The idea I have is a thermin. However it will be 1 antenna and the distance of the hand controls volume and as the hand goes up and down, pitch.
With that in mind are there solutions out there? If there is a diy solution I could use im all ears.
The easiest is using an oscillator based on a 74HC chip using NAND or OR ports. Makes for a super simple oscillator, running at a few MHz. Use the T1 input of the Arduino for frequency counting.
The hard part is the continued need of self-calibration, as any change in both the physical and electrical environment of the antenna will change the measured frequency.
It's a really fascinating topic.
Another thing: make sure to have a scope around. Even a simple DSO Quad scope is enough for this, but you really need a way to visualise what your circuit is doing. Does it oscillate at all? At what frequency? Do I have a good output signal that my Arduino can read? That's the kind of questions you need to be able to answer.
After reading "Bing" in the link title, I had a repulsion movement preventing me from clicking it...