This version uses 5 IR emitter/receiver pairs to read five of the nine potential pip locations on a die face. Five is the minimum number of locations you have to look at to definitively read the orientation of the die. I had to file down the edges of the detectors to get them pip-distance apart and place the emitters directly behind the detectors so they’d get maximum reflection from the surface (And there is really no other place to put ’em.) On a white area of a die it returns a really nice signal. Which means what I’m really detecting is a lack of a pip, counting the white areas rather than the dark ones.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
