How big does it have to be?
The last few days has seen me researching different IR sensors and yesterday I have came across a really interesting one where the size is significantly smaller than I ever expected.
The base build for prototype 1 is quite simple. Attach an infrared transmitter and receiver to an Arduino board and write the code to detect when the beam is broken. This first protoype needs to be this simple given the fact that I need to find a very accurate sensor with a narrow beam which has a fast polling/refresh time. The research I am in the middle of shows that (on paper) the sensor updates at around 0.03 seconds. There are sensors available that update quicker, but the price of these skyrocket with the speed increases you get.
Once I have tested a variety of sensors and chosen one to move into prototype 2, I can then add Bluetooth capabilities. But the questions still stands... How big does it have to be?
From prototype two onward, the unit should not be much bigger than an external hard disk and will contain the following components.
IR transmitter and receiver
USB port for wired firmware updates
Bluetooth connectivity for connection to iDevice and wireless firmware updates
