Pololu IR Beacon Transceiver Pair
The Pololu IR beacon is a compact board that is used in pairs to allow robots to locate each other.
Each board has infrared emitters that shine in all directions and four IR receivers for detecting the other beacon.
The IR beacons have a range of about fifteen feet indoors.
Details
Pololu’s new IR beacon (infrared beacon) is an updated version of the original IR beacon. Like the original unit, the devices are transceivers meant to be used in pairs to give robots a simple means for detecting each other.
You can use the beacons to build pairs of robots that interact or chase one another, or to make a robot that can identify and return to a home base. For example, you could build a “cat robot” and “mouse robot” that each have an IR beacon, where the cat chases the mouse and the mouse runs away from the cat.
The beacons are ideal for autonomous robot contests in which robots compete in pairs, such as MIT’s annual 6.270 autonomous robot design competition, where our original beacons were used for several years.