Need some advice on what type of sensor to use for measuring distance

Other Hardware Sensors
1

I'm developing a device that requires some method of measuring distance roughly up to around 300mm. I was considering just using one of those cheap ultrasonic sensors.

The issue I have is that the device sits on top of a surface, my fear is that with an ultrasonic sensor its going to just deflect off the surface and give generally inaccurate readings. So ideally what I need is a sensor capable of measuring short distances with a wide horizontal FOV but a very narrow vertical FOV.

I also considered using some sort of laser however since the sensor would be almost at eye level I'm worried about potential eye damage.

2

You may be surprised. The ultrasonic sensors are cheap, so give it a try.

3

Do explain.

4

have a look at Pololu TOF sensors

5

Is the sensor looking horizontally along the surface or perpendicularly at the surface?

6

Keep in mind that sound waves obey the Law of Reflection (angle of incidence = angle of reflection), so it is very simple to analyze a given surface geometry and predict what to expect.

7

That's exactly what I was looking for, cheap and programmable FOV.
Out of curiosity, some of the models include "Zones", I assume that would mean I could program it to ignore, for example, any readings in a certain direction or "zone"?

8

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