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NXT Ultrasonic Sensor

Measures distance between NXT ultrasonic sensor and the nearest object

Add-On Required: This feature requires the Simulink Support Package for LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Hardware add-on.

Library

Simulink® Support Package for LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 Hardware / NXT Sensors

  • NXT Ultrasonic Sensor block

Description

The NXT Ultrasonic Sensor measures the distance between the NXT ultrasonic sensor on the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 brick and the nearest object in front of the sensor.

The sensor can detect objects from approximately 5–255 centimeters away.

When the nearest object is beyond the maximum range of the ultrasonic sensor, the sensor outputs the maximum value, 255.

The measured distances are approximate. For greater precision, calibrate the sensor output values against physical measurements.

The distance from which the sensor first detects an approaching object depends on:

  • The ultrasonic reflectance of the object, which is a function of the object’s size and composition. The sensor detects large hard objects from a greater distance than small soft ones. For example, the sensor might detect a pane of glass at 255 centimeters and a hand puppet at 150 centimeters.

  • The angle of incidence of the object relative to the sensor. The sensor detects objects directly in front of it at greater distances than the objects to its side.

During simulations without hardware, this block emits zeros. See Block Produces Zeros or Does Nothing in Simulation.

Use the Ultrasonic Sensor

  1. Open the legoev3nxtlib block library and copy the NXT Ultrasonic Sensor block to a new model.

  2. Open the legoev3lib block library and copy the Motor block to the same model and connect these blocks.

  3. Connect the ultrasonic sensor to port 1 and a servo motor to port A of the EV3 brick.

  4. Prepare and run the model on the EV3 brick as described in Run Model on EV3 Hardware.

  5. Hold the ultrasonic sensor closer to an object and observe that the speed of the motor decreases.

Parameters

EV3 brick input port number

Select the EV3 sensor port to which the sensor is connected. Avoid assigning multiple devices to the same port. The options are 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Sample time

Specify how often the block reads sensor values. This value defaults to 0.1. Shorter sample times, such as 0.01, may produce unreliable measurements.

Smaller values require the processor to complete the same number of instructions in less time, which can cause task overruns.

Version History

Introduced in R2018a