The ultrasonic distance sensor module (HC-SR04) can measure distances from 2 centimeters up to 5 meters (if you're lucky).
You could, for example, use it to check the water level in a tank or as a parking sensor in your garage.
It works by sending out short ultrasonic sound pulses, which are inaudible to humans, and waits for the pulses to return to its microphone. The HC-SR04 then calculates the distance by measuring the round-trip time delay for each pulse.
Wiring Things Up
Start by connecting the radio module.
| Sensor | Arduino | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| VCC | VCC | Red |
| TRIG | Digital pin 6 | Blue |
| ECHO | Digital pin 5 | Green |
| GND | GND | Black |
Example
This example uses the external NewPing library found here. Please install it and restart the Arduino IDE before trying to compile.
/**
* The MySensors Arduino library handles the wireless radio link and protocol
* between your home built sensors/actuators and HA controller of choice.
* The sensors forms a self healing radio network with optional repeaters. Each
* repeater and gateway builds a routing tables in EEPROM which keeps track of the
* network topology allowing messages to be routed to nodes.
*
* Created by Henrik Ekblad <[email protected]>
* Copyright (C) 2013-2015 Sensnology AB
* Full contributor list: https://github.com/mysensors/Arduino/graphs/contributors
*
* Documentation: http://www.mysensors.org
* Support Forum: http://forum.mysensors.org
*
* This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
* modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
* version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
*
*******************************
*
* REVISION HISTORY
* Version 1.0 - Henrik EKblad
*
* DESCRIPTION
* This sketch provides an example how to implement a distance sensor using HC-SR04
* http://www.mysensors.org/build/distance
*/
// Enable debug prints
#define MY_DEBUG
// Enable and select radio type attached
#define MY_RADIO_RF24
//#define MY_RADIO_RFM69
#include <MySensors.h>
#include <NewPing.h>
#define CHILD_ID 1
#define TRIGGER_PIN 6 // Arduino pin tied to trigger pin on the ultrasonic sensor.
#define ECHO_PIN 5 // Arduino pin tied to echo pin on the ultrasonic sensor.
#define MAX_DISTANCE 300 // Maximum distance we want to ping for (in centimeters). Maximum sensor distance is rated at 400-500cm.
unsigned long SLEEP_TIME = 5000; // Sleep time between reads (in milliseconds)
NewPing sonar(TRIGGER_PIN, ECHO_PIN, MAX_DISTANCE); // NewPing setup of pins and maximum distance.
MyMessage msg(CHILD_ID, V_DISTANCE);
int lastDist;
bool metric = true;
void setup()
{
metric = getControllerConfig().isMetric;
}
void presentation() {
// Send the sketch version information to the gateway and Controller
sendSketchInfo("Distance Sensor", "1.0");
// Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
present(CHILD_ID, S_DISTANCE);
}
void loop()
{
int dist = metric?sonar.ping_cm():sonar.ping_in();
Serial.print("Ping: ");
Serial.print(dist); // Convert ping time to distance in cm and print result (0 = outside set distance range)
Serial.println(metric?" cm":" in");
if (dist != lastDist) {
send(msg.set(dist));
lastDist = dist;
}
sleep(SLEEP_TIME);
}
