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Gorillacell Module 026: Ultrasonic Sensor

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The Ultrasonic Sensor measures distance using high-frequency sound waves.

The Gorillacell ESP32 Development Kit includes an Ultrasonic Sensor module, driven by the HC-SR04 driver chip, which handles generating and receiving the sound waves. The sensor has two “eyes”: one acts as a transmitter that emits sound waves, and the other serves as a receiver that detects the waves reflected back from an object.

The distance between the sensor and an object can be calculated using the formula:

 distance = time × Speed of Sound / 2 

Speed of Sound is approximately 340 m/s (or 29.412 µs/cm).

The division by 2 accounts for the fact that the sound wave travels to the object and back.

In operation, the sensor sends a sound pulse, which bounces off the object and returns to the sensor. The time it takes for this round trip is used to calculate the distance accurately.

BASIC INFORMATION

Device Category Interface Chipset Description
Input Sensor Cell Digital HC-SR04 -

PINOUT

It has 4 pins which are

  1. GND - for the ground pin,
  2. VCC - for the supply voltage,
  3. TRIG - for initiating the transmit of sound signal, and
  4. ECHO - for receiving the reflected sound signal.
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