I'm working with HC-SR04 with measuring angle of <30° so i'm wondering what are the alternatives to this sensor in regard of higher measuring angle, it doesn't have to ultrasonic sensor, it can be IR or whatever, the price isn't one of the conditions,i just wanna know what kind of sensors are there, cause most of them don't have measuring angle information in their description ... i'm all ears :o
Hi,
One possibility is to use ultrasonic but have it "look around".. Notice the servo that supports the ultrasonic sensor in the photo below.
We just finished building 3 of these kits we gave to a local 4th grade class. Kind of crazy but they actually got all 3 working today after 3 sessions totaling about 5 hours.
Some people have built 360 degree scanning with servos or stepper motors.
DISCLAIMER: Mentioned stuff from my own shop...
I saw something similar to this before, its a very nice project, but unfortunately its not what im looking for.
The thing is, i want my sensor to be fixed on a position and then measure distance of moving objects in front of it, not the other way around (moving sensor detecting fixed obstacles), but still thank you very much for the suggestion, i will think about it, maybe there is a solution to my problem regarding your suggestion 
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If anyone knows any sensors with wider measuring angle, pls do tell 
Hey,
I unfortunately do not know another sensor.
Here are some alternatives:
- Use an array of sensors.
- In theory you could use something like a lens that is translucent for ultrasonic beams. - Unfortunately I did not find affordable materials for such purpose. In Infrared however this would work great as you don't even have to emit the radiation in some cases. (passive radar)
I also think there is another flaw in the design. - If you have only one sensor, you only get a distance, not a direction. So if anything is moving around, without changing distance, you wouldn’t know. To compensate this, you could use 2 sensors for 2D- or 3 for 3D-positioning.
Good luck, hope it was useful to some extend.
I designed and had this "horn" 3d printed for an ultrasonic sensor. The sensor mounts at the hole in the base, and the horn "guides" the sound waves out and in. Gives you 360 degree coverage with a single-transducer ultrasonic sensor (not the HC-SR04, which has two transducers). Seemed to work ok, but I only conducted limited testing.
Patent Pending.
You seem to want to detect motion - a normal ultrasound sensor can't do this - unless it's moving closer or further away, not if it moves across the beam, then it will just sense the presence. It also detects only the one closest object.
I think what you need is a camera or laser based sensor, like the sensors self-driving cars use to sense their environment.
wvmarle:
You seem to want to detect motion - a normal ultrasound sensor can't do this - unless it's moving closer or further away, not if it moves across the beam, then it will just sense the presence. It also detects only the one closest object.
I think what you need is a camera or laser based sensor, like the sensors self-driving cars use to sense their environment.
jomann380:
...I also think there is another flaw in the design. - If you have only one sensor, you only get a distance, not a direction. So if anything is moving around, without changing distance, you wouldn’t know. To compensate this, you could use 2 sensors for 2D- or 3 for 3D-positioning.
...
Marie, Jomann here kinda answered your post, i do want to detect motion Jomann, and i am using 2 sensors for 2-D detecting, but i'm looking for a sensor with wider measuring angle (HFOV) so i can put them closer together... How do those IR sensors work anyways, do they only detect objects in front of them or? The information is really scarce.
@DaveEvans that project looks very interesting, what kind of sensor is used in there(some type of HC-SR04 or?), could there be made something similar to that, but only to get wider Horizontal FOV, i would actually like to avoid detecting objects at certain height in front of sensor, but increase the width
I was working on an indoor localization project and in testing was only using the horn with the receive transducer of an HC-SR04 (using radios to sync the receiver with the transmitter of a different HC-SR04).
But to use the horn for combined transmit and receive, something like the Maxbotics ultransonic sensors with a single transducer ought to work. In those sensors, the single transducer transmits and receives.
My horn gives a 360 degree horizontal field of view (if the horn axis is vertical) and limits the detection height.
I started with the concept shown below but made it spread the vertical beam (coming in or going out at the base) horizontally 360 degrees, instead of directing it in a horizontal linear beam, as this antenna does:
Something similar to my horn could probably be made to give you any horizontal field of view you desire, with limited detection height.
Broadening the horizontal field of view might reduce the range, since the energy is greatly dispersed...
DaveEvans:
I designed and had this "horn" 3d printed for an ultrasonic sensor. The sensor mounts at the hole in the base, and the horn "guides" the sound waves out and in. Gives you 360 degree coverage with a single-transducer ultrasonic sensor (not the HC-SR04, which has two transducers). Seemed to work ok, but I only conducted limited testing.
Patent Pending.
Hello @DaveEvans
Can you share the 3D design files?
Regards
Sorry - they're lost in the mists of time.......
Edit - I did find this:
In the 2D image on the left, I selected the three angles of the horn surfaces to "focus" the reflected sound on the opening in the bottom. Since the horn surfaces are curved, the situation is more complex than the 2D image suggests. I neglected that complexity.......