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Max amount of ReachClose 2.2

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:52 pm
by ventolinmono
Hello

Have anybody tried to use more than one ReachClose in the same application?
I want to sense the position of the hand in a row of ReachClose sensors.
The application will be a laser harp > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_harp .

My setup can be something like this:
<-- hand moves up, down, left, right -->
↑__↑__↑__↑__↑__↑__↑__↑__↑__↑__↑__↑
Each arrow represents a sensor pointing upwards.

The position of the hand over any sensor determines the instrument. The distance to that sensor by blocking the laser beam modulates the sound for that instrument.
The sensors are going to work independent of the lasers but very close to them so that it appears that the lasers themselves are doing the sensing.

What will be the minimum amount of space between the different ReachClose sensors? The width of a hand?

Thanks.

Re: Max amount of ReachClose 2.2

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 5:25 am
by Tech
On the sensor's webpage the active volume is listed as a cone of 5 degree width, ie. it gets wider the further you get away from the sensor. At 1 m the cone will be approx. 2 * 1 * tan (2.5) = 0.087, ie. 9 cm wide, so if you place the sensors about 10 cm apart and move your hand in front of the sensors well within the 1 m range you should not have any interference issues. If you want to use the maximum range of the sensors (2 m) then place them 20 cm apart.

PS We may have tested this in the past, but can't find what we found .. anyway, we'll put it on our todo list ! Also, do share what you find.

Re: Max amount of ReachClose 2.2

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:55 pm
by ventolinmono
Thanks Tech thats useful information.
I will make some tests and publish the results here.

Re: Max amount of ReachClose 2.2

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:28 pm
by ventolinmono
So I used 6 ReachClose sensors at the same time with the USB-microSystem.
The I-Cube-X editor worked very well mapping MIDI messages from the 6 sensors so i could use them on VVVV.
The reading of an average hand worked best from about 20-40 cm distance from each of the sensors.
I was throwing fog because the sensors were align with lasers to indicate their positions and the fog was necessary to see the lasers.
If the fog from the fog machine was too dense the sensors got positive readings.
So we need to balance the amount of fog necessary for the lasers to bee seen and so that it wouldn't interfere with the sensors.
That was the biggest issue.
The ReachClose sensors, the USB-microSystem and the I-Cube-X editor worked very well.

Re: Max amount of ReachClose 2.2

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:58 am
by Tech
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences !

Re: Max amount of ReachClose 2.2

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 2:39 pm
by Tech
We recently did some tests and found that the ReachClose can be placed right next to each other (length or width-wise) without the beam from one sensor interfering with the beam from another ReachClose.