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LAB 4 – Ultrasonic Sensor

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Objectives

By the end of this lab, you will have acquired the following skills:

To learn how to use a microcontroller and Arduino IDE to measure distance from an object using

ultrasonic sensor.

Needed Material

1. Teensy or Arduino

2. Ultrasonic Sensor

HC-SR04
Ultrasonic Sensor
3. Buzzer

4. Breadboard
Microcontroller
5. USB Cable

6. Wire Stripping Tool

7. Wires

8. Multitester Solderless Breadboard

USB Cable

Buzzer
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Wire Stripping Tool Wires Wires

Procedure

Please refrain from making connections when the power is on. Always remember to turn

off the power before making any connections.

Experimental Procedures

Part A – Distance Detection by Ultrasonic

1. Read Appendix A to learn how ultrasonic sensor works.

2. Find the datasheet of the ultrasonic sensor you are using and complete the table below.

Working Voltage
Working Current
Working Frequency
Max Range
Min Range

Please ensure that you include the units

3. Establish the wiring connection between the ultrasonic sensor and your microcontroller as

follows:
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Modify the pins numbers code accordingly with the microprocessor you are using

4. Place an object 10 cm from the sensor.

5. Write the following sketch to calculate the distance between the sensor and the object. Save

the sketch, compile, and upload.

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6. Click the serial Monitor button.

Take a screenshot of the Serial Monitor and add to your lab report.

How Does This Program Work?

a. Echo and Trig pins are defined as pins number 11 and 12 on the microcontroller

Board. They are named trigPin and echoPin.

b. The travel time that we will get from the sensor is assigned to the variable duration

with type long.

c. The calculated distance is assigned to the variable distance with type integer.

d. In the setup, the trigPin is defined as an output and the echoPin as an Input. Also start

the serial communication is opened for showing the results on the serial monitor.

In the loop
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e. Set the trigPin on HIGH State for 10 µs to generate the Ultrasound wave.

f. Use the pulseIn() function you must read the travel time and put that value into the

variable “duration”.

i. pulseIn() function has 2 parameters, the first one is the name of the echo pin

and for the second one you can write either HIGH or LOW.

ii. In this case, HIGH means that the pulsIn() function will wait for the pin to go

HIGH caused by the bounced sound wave and it will start timing, then it will

wait for the pin to go LOW when the sound wave will end which will stop the

timing. At the end, the function will return the length of the pulse in

microseconds.

g. Multiply the duration by 340 and divide it by 20 000 to get the distance in cm (see

appendix A).

h. Print the value of the distance and duration of the Echo pin on the Serial Monitor.

Measuring a PWM signal

7. Connect the ultrasonic sensor to the channels one and two of the oscilloscope as shown

below.
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8. Configure the oscilloscope with a timescale of 100 microseconds and a voltage scale of 1

V/div. These settings are suitable for our measurement purposes.

a. We will focus on measuring the widths of the square waves.

Place an object 10 cm from the sensor.

9. Measure Channel 1 and Channel 2 square wave width.

Channel 1 square wave width (µs)____________________

Channel 2 square wave width (µs)____________________

10. Calculate the error between the measurement of Channel 1 and the trigerTime set in the

program.

𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜______________________________________

|𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 − 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒|
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100
𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒
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11. Calculate the error between the measurement of Channel 2 and the duration printed on the

Arduino serial monitor.

𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜______________________________________

|𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 − 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛|
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100
𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

Be sure to incorporate the measured and calculated values into your lab report

12. Measure the distance between the falling edge of the trigger and the rising edge of Channel

one, the Echo.

a. What does this distance mean?

Part B – Making Noise

13. Identify the type of buzzer you will be using. Is it active or linear?
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14. Find the datasheet of the ultrasonic sensor you are using and complete the table below.

Rated Voltage
Operating Voltage
Rated current
Resonant Frequency

Please ensure that you include the units

15. Build the circuit as shown below if you are using active a buzzer.

16. Upload the sketch below to the microcontroller.

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How Does This Program Work?

The code makes the buzzer produce a gradually increasing and then decreasing pitch

sound, with a pause in between. It demonstrates how to control the frequency of a buzzer using a

microcontroller.

The first for loop starts with a frequency of 200 and increases it by 1 each time until it

reaches 800.

Inside the loop, tone() generates a tone with the current frequency on the 'buzzerPin', and

delay(5) pauses for 5 milliseconds before the next iteration.

After reaching 800Hz, there is a delay(4000) which pauses the program for 4 seconds.

The second for loop starts with a frequency of 800 and decreases it by 1 each time until it

reaches 200.
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Again, tone() generates a tone with the current frequency on the 'buzzerPin', and

delay(10) pauses for 10 milliseconds before the next iteration.

Keep in mind that the sound wave will persist until either the microcontroller is powered

off or the buzzer is disconnected. Another way to stop the sound is by using the function

noTone(). For further information on the tone() function, please refer to the link provided below.

LinkToToneFunctionDetails

Lab Challenge

Revise the ultrasonic sensor code to trigger the buzzer when the distance is equal to or

less than 4 cm.

1. Add comments to explaining your code, algorithms, or any parts that might not be

immediately clear to someone else (or even yourself in the future).!

2. Submit your source code and the circuit schematic.

To submit your results, please adhere to the provided lab template. The
submission dropbox will remain open for a duration of one week
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Appendix A – Ultrasonic Sensor

Ultrasonic Sensor

The ultrasonic sensor employs sound waves to precisely detect objects and measure

distances. It emits ultrasonic waves and then transforms them into electronic signals for

processing and analysis.

Principle

This sensor operates by emitting a sound wave and measuring the time it takes for the

wave to return to the ultrasonic sensor. This enables it to determine the distance between objects

and the ultrasonic sensor.

The HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Ranging Module combines both an ultrasonic transmitter and a

receiver. The transmitter transforms electrical signals (electric energy) into high-frequency sound

waves (mechanical energy) beyond the range of human hearing. Conversely, the receiver

performs the reverse function. Below, you can find an image and a diagram illustrating the HC-

SR04 Ultrasonic Ranging Module.

The HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Module has 4 pins, Ground, VCC, Trig and Echo. The Ground

and the VCC pins of the module need to be connected to the Ground and the 5 volts pins on the

Teensy Board respectively and the trig and echo pins to any Digital I/O pin on the Teensy Board.
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Pin description:

Pin name Pin number Description

Vcc 1 Positive electrode of power supply, the voltage is 5V
Trig 2 Triger pin
Echo 3 Echo pin
GND 4 Negative Electrode of power supply

The Ultrasonic Ranging Module operates on the principle that ultrasonic waves reflect

upon encountering obstacles. This is achieved by measuring the time interval between the

transmission and reflection of the ultrasonic wave after it encounters an obstacle. The counting of

this time interval concludes upon receiving the reflected ultrasonic wave. The resulting time

difference (∆𝑡) represents the total duration of the ultrasonic wave's round trip from transmission

to reception.

Given the constant speed of sound in air, V = 340m/s, we can calculate the distance (s)

between the Ultrasonic Ranging Module and the obstacle using the formula S = V∆𝑡 /2.
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To generate the ultrasound, you need to set the Trig on a High State for 10 µs. That will

send out an 8-cycle sonic burst which will travel at the speed of sound, and it will be received in

the Echo pin. The Echo pin will output the time in microseconds the sound wave traveled.

For example, if the object is 10 cm away from the sensor, and the speed of the sound is

340 m/s or 0.034 cm/µs the sound wave will need to travel about 294 u seconds. But what you

will get from the Echo pin will be double that number because the sound wave needs to travel

forward and bounce backward. So, to get the distance in cm we need to multiply the received

travel time value from the echo pin by 0.034 and divide it by 2.

Buzzer

A buzzer is a device used for audio signaling. Buzzers are classified into two main types:

active and passive (as described below). When you position two buzzers with their pins facing

upward, you'll notice that the one featuring a green circuit board is classified as a passive buzzer.

In contrast, the other one, distinguished by a black tape in lieu of a board, is an active buzzer, as

illustrated below.
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Active Buzzer vs. Passive Buzzer

An active buzzer contains a built-in oscillating source, producing sound when powered.
On the other hand, a passive buzzer lacks this source and will not produce sound if supplied with
DC signals. Instead, it requires square waves with frequencies ranging between 2 kHz and 5 kHz
for operation. Active buzzers tend to be pricier than passive ones due to the inclusion of multiple
built-in oscillating circuits. There are many circuits and crystal oscillator elements inside active
buzzers; all of this is usually protected with a waterproof coating (and a housing) exposing only
its pins from the underside.

One significant advantage of passive buzzers is their capacity to allow control over the
tone or pitch of the produced sound. Active buzzers are limited to a single tone, whereas passive
buzzers can produce any tone within their dynamic range.

To generate sound, passive buzzers require a square wave signal. Modifying the
frequency of this square wave allows you to adjust the pitch of the sound.