Sensors

Sensors allow our circuits to get information from the outside world. Many of our circuits have already used the simplest sensor -- the pushbutton switch. The pushbutton switch is fairly crude, in that it does not offer much in the way of resolution. It can tell us if someone (or something) is pressing it, but it can't tell us how hard, or who it might be.

Most sensors fall into one of three basic categories. There are those sensors that change resitance to convey informatio, those that provide a change in voltage, and finally those that deliver digital information and describe their sensory information with numbers.

We'll spend a bit of time with each of these. More information on sensors specifically for the Lego RCX is available at Michael Gasperi's Lego Mindstorms Sensor Page. You might also check out the book, Extreme Mindstorms: An Advanced Guide to Lego Mindstorms by David Baum, Michael Gasperi, et. al.

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