Grove Ultrasonic sensor giving weird values

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1

Hey guys,

I am trying to get the ultrasonic ranger to work with a custom project. It first worked fine but then the transistor got quite hot and the readings are complete randomness. From a distance of 10cm it reads :

427
497
497
497
498
379
497
497
247
497
497
289
121
497
186
164
215
256

How do I fix this? It has never been used before. Is the build quality just really that bad? Or is there something more going on? Thanks

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2

Sounds like you may have the wrong ultrasonic sensor.

Does it say “Grove” on the sensor?

If it says HC-SR04, it is not compatible and may cause damage!

See pictures: Ultrasonic Sensor not working - #5 by cyclicalobsessive

Although there were reports years ago of overheating with the version 1 of the Grove US Ranger. If you have the Grove - is it v1 or v2?

This is the v2 (note no “transistor” can):

Grove_Ultrasonic_Ranger_v2
Grove_Ultrasonic_Ranger_v2907×704 102 KB

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hey, thanks for your reply. It is a Grove ultrasonic ranger v2.0

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4

That is worrisome info. I have only used my Grove Ultrasonic Ranger (v2) at low scan rates. I noted that at higher rates, the sensor “sings”.

What scan rate have you been using it at?

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I’ve tried it for 1 second, 2 seconds, 0.1 seconds, 0.4 seconds, basically everything.

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I am not sure what you did, but it sounds like it’s dead now.

(Star Trek sound bite:)  “It’s dead, Jim.”

Maybe it was defective?

How quickly were you reading it when it failed?

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I didn’t really use it at all before this. It was working fine for a bit then I booted up the Rpi again and it started giving me these weird signals before being moved. The reading was being done at different speeds to give the sensors time to read the signals. Am I gonna have to buy a new one: :frowning: :cry:

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If one of the transistors overheated, it is likely.

Hopefully you didn’t fry the Grove board.

Since the sensor is the cheapest of the two, I would try replacing it first.

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Have you also tried moving it to a different Digital port and changing your software to point to that port?



# Connect the Grove Ultrasonic Ranger to digital port D4
# SIG,NC,VCC,GND
ultrasonic_ranger = 4

Are you running any other sensors at the same time as the grove_ultrasonic_ranger.py program?

If you do go for a new one, perhaps you should order two at the same time.

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thanks for your reply. GrovePi is working fine and so are the other sensors attached. Gotta spend another 5eu now ffs :((

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Thanks for your reply. I have tried your suggestions too with no success. why would I need two?

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He’s not talking about two ultrasonic sensors, he’s talking about using the ultrasonic sensor with a different sensor attached to the Grove board.

Oops!
My bad.  He was talking about two ultrasonic sensors.

He appears to be suggesting that you get a spare as Seeed Studios’ stuff sometimes doesn’t work well.  (We have seen quality issues with Seeed Studios’ products in the past.)

Please order from a reputable dealer with a good guarantee policy and not some idiot on eBay.

Please understand that neither of us uses a Grove board with our robots.  We’re trying to help based on our knowledge of the sensors and what information we’ve heard and read about the Grove board itself.
 

@cyclicalobsessive asked about different sensors being used together because sometimes there are conflicts between the sensors.

What version of the Raspberry Pi O/S are you using and which version of the Pi are you using it with?

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