LegoGBC Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) Hello! I had this idea of making a ball counter for a long time,however,I don't own an NXT and neither have enough pieces (and the knowledge) to build a mechanical one (like Nico71's) So after some work I came out with this - I've built an app for my Nexus 4,which uses the phone's built in proximity sensor to detect proximity change. The app then adds one to the ball counter,and waits 700ms before measuring again (because of the lever sometimes jumping a little after it moves) The first prototype was a rail going in front of the proximity sensor,so every time a ball crosses it will block it. This,however,wasn't reliable at all because of the sensor's low refresh rate. So I built what you see in the video - now,a ball goes up in a threads lift,moving a lever which then blocks the proximity sensor. It's 100% accurate. Here's the video,thanks for watching! Edited June 22, 2013 by LegoGBC Quote
legomuppet9 Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 Nice work I like how you got around the problem of not having NXT by building an app for your phone, very imaginative! May I ask, how did you build it? Quote
LegoGBC Posted June 22, 2013 Author Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) Nice work I like how you got around the problem of not having NXT by building an app for your phone, very imaginative! May I ask, how did you build it? Thank you! The app is programmed in Java for android. The algorithm itself isn't very complicated,but required some tweaking to make it 100% accurate. Edited June 22, 2013 by LegoGBC Quote
Carsten Svendsen Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 Phones have a proximity detector? What do you use that for besides this? Quote
LegoGBC Posted June 22, 2013 Author Posted June 22, 2013 Phones have a proximity detector? What do you use that for besides this? When you put your phone next to your ear,the screen turns off (when making a call) so you won't accidently hang up the call with your ear or something. Quote
dr_spock Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 Nice idea. What happens if you have to take a phone call? Quote
Boxerlego Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 That is a really neat use of a cell phone. They can do so much today, it is just not a phone to some anymore. It is now a Lego brick. Quote
LegoGBC Posted June 22, 2013 Author Posted June 22, 2013 Nice idea. What happens if you have to take a phone call? I have an old Nokia lying around somewhere Quote
Kwon Posted June 23, 2013 Posted June 23, 2013 There is camera in phone? Who made app? Btw, Very nice job! Quote
LegoGBC Posted June 23, 2013 Author Posted June 23, 2013 There is camera in phone? Who made app? Btw, Very nice job! I made the app, and its not using the camera,its using the proximity sensor. Quote
kieran Posted June 24, 2013 Posted June 24, 2013 I love this, such a good solution using what you have and not just going out and getting new stuff, you should make the app available if not already i bet there are loads of people that would like to play with this. Quote
msx80 Posted June 24, 2013 Posted June 24, 2013 great idea, and the arm blocking the sensor is very nice to see! Quote
LegoGBC Posted June 24, 2013 Author Posted June 24, 2013 I love this, such a good solution using what you have and not just going out and getting new stuff, you should make the app available if not already i bet there are loads of people that would like to play with this. Thank you. As the video description suggest,the app is available to anybody who wants to use it. Just PM me on youtube and i'll send it Quote
rocklego Posted June 25, 2013 Posted June 25, 2013 Excellent!!! LegoGBC showed us that the capability and diversity of Lego by merging Lego with a smartphone. Quote
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