I am considering the SparkFun Optical Tracking Odometry Sensor - PAA5160E1 (Qwiic). Can anyone describe the performance of the sensor on various surfaces and lighting conditions? I would like to use the sensor on a concrete driveway which is flat but rough, and in dim or dark conditions.
You’d likely need to test it to characterize/get an idea of how it’d perform…our in-house testing used FTC tiles:
“The PAA5160E1 chip offers exceptional tracking performance with a typical error rate of 3-5% within a working range of 10mm to 27mm (must be exactly 10mm for FTC field tiles). However, a calibration within the sensor’s firmware can significantly reduce this error to under 1% in ideal conditions. This sensor excels at high-speed motion tracking of up to 2.5 meters per second, making it an excellent choice for navigating warehouse robots, commercial robots, and other fast-moving applications.”
Dim/dark conditions should be fine (it uses a laser)…however, hopefully the concrete is highly reflective!
Post your results here if you do end up testing it out!
I think concrete would be fine, though I’ve not personally tested it myself much on concrete. Although if your concrete is a very dark color or has big gaps or chunks taken out of it, then performance may be worse.
The sensor should work fine in darkness, it has its own IR laser for surface illumination. It could be affected by very bright lighting, but if its in the shadow of an object, I expect it would probably work fine.