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SRF04 - Ultra-Sonic Ranger
Technical Specification
This project started after I looked at the Polaroid Ultrasonic Ranging module. It has a number of disadvantages
for use in small robots etc.
1. The maximum range of 10.7 metre is far more than is normally required, and as a result
2. The current consumption, at 2.5 Amps during the sonic burst is truly horrendous.
3. The 150mA quiescent current is also far too high.
4. The minimum range of 26cm is useless. 1-2cm is more like it.
5. The module is quite large to fit into small systems, and
6. It’s EXPENSIVE.
The SRF04 was designed to be just as easy to use as the Polaroid sonar, requiring a short trigger pulse and
providing an echo pulse. Your controller only has to time the length of this pulse to find the range. The
connections to the SRF04 are shown below:
www.DataSheet4U.comThe SRF04 Timing diagram is shown below. You only need to supply a short 10uS pulse to the trigger input to
Update - May 2003
Since the original design of the SRF04 was published, there have been incremental improvements to improve
performance and manufacturing reliability. The op-amp is now an LMC6032 and the comparator is an LP311.
The 10uF capacitor is now 22uF and a few resistor values have been tweaked. These changes have happened
over a period of time.
All SRF04's manufactured after May 2003 have new software implementing an optional timing control input
using the "do not connect" pin. This connection is the PIC's Vpp line used to program the chip after assembly.
After programming its just an unused input with a pull-up resistor. When left unconnected the SRF04 behaves
exactly as it always has and is described above. When the "do not connect" pin is connected to ground (0v), the
timing is changed slightly to allow the SRF04 to work with the slower controllers such as the Picaxe. The
SRF04's "do not connect" pin now acts as a timing control. This pin is pulled high by default and when left
unconnected, the timing remains exactly as before. With the timing pin pulled low (grounded) a 300uS delay
is added between the end of the trigger pulse and transmitting the sonic burst. Since the echo output is not raised
until the burst is completed, there is no change to the range timing, but the 300uS delay gives the Picaxe time to
sort out which pin to look at and start doing so. The new code has shipped in all SRF04's since the end of April
2003. The new code is also useful when connecting the SRF04 to the slower Stamps such as the BS2. Although
the SRF04 works with the BS2, the echo line needs to be connected to the lower numbered input pins. This is
because the Stamps take progressively longer to look at the higher numbered pins and can miss the rising edge
of the echo signal. In this case you can connect the "do not connect" pin to ground and give it an extra 300uS to
get there.