Finally! Complete Assembly

Yay! I was finally able to get the missing parts made!
Now I can do some more program testing. Next step is to add the 3rd and 4th sensors and code a 2 axis program.

The Business End

 

Well, this was something I threw together real quick, just so I could test the sensors. The cheap Radio Shack LED mounts actually worked pretty well. I painted them black, and I think it is a nice setup.

Proof Of Concept works!

Yay! The proof of concept for the Horizontal Axis worked with no bugs! I still need to make a bracket to test the sensors mounted on the servo, but the servo responds, and the IR sensors still seem to be sensitive enough for the concept.

First Stage Done

Ok, here is the Mini Turret base with the first servo installed. The second servo assembly will be a little harder, and I have to figure out the sensor array.

Sneak Peek

Evil Grin  ;)

Sensor Construction

Ok, I had to make a decision. Since the intent is to make a simple people tracker, I opted for the most basic sensor available....the IR sensor. Here is a photo of the most basic sensor possible. The transmitting LED is not included because it does not have to be part of the same circuit. No Op Amp either, I will decide later if I want to amplify it or not.
There you have it, 3 connections, Ground, Signal, and Vin (5v)

*IMPORTANT NOTE!:

If you haven't noticed, the phototransistor in the photo is backwards...so, don't do it like this  ;)

Turret Project: 2 servos + PIR + Turret

Here is the next project, a mini turret. Just the right balance of programming and electronics is required, so I think I can handle it.
First step will be to make the mount, then I will start messing with some PIR sensors. I will probably just write a simple motion program to check out the range of motion. This will become the start up routine.
If anything, this will show me if it is going to look cool or not.
With some quick solid modeling, I got the feeling it will make a decent looking paper weight :)

EDIT: After some thought and research, I am thinking that the PIR is not the route to go, and the easier method would be to use some IR Leds instead...we'll see. The possibility of using an off-the-shelf sensor still exists :D