Midterm project - Success! (almost)
We have now completed the "intelligent restaurant lamp", at least a first version.
It responds correctly to gestures, all controls are working. Still working on timeout and display routines.
Here is a picture:
We've learned that IR sensors are very fiddly to work with: the IR LED transmits a very narrow beam, and the receiver sees a very narrow field of view. Therefore, the two components have to be angled towards each other so that when an object is in front of them, the IR beam projected by the LED is visible to the sensor. A tiny variation in the position of the transmitter or receiver has a huge impact on the values returned. Here is a picture of the emitter & sensor mounted.
I think using the finite state machine concept for programming has been very helpful: we were able to define all states completely, in a very reliable way. I will use this technique again, whenever feasible.
I actually like this device, and would spend the time & effort to make one for myself! I would replace the LEDs with actual lightbulbs, to make it more lamplike, and make a slightly more elegant mount for the sensors.
Working with Shinyoung & Younghyun was a great experience. We understood each other very well, and shared our tasks effectively. Shinyoung actually wrote the code for processing the state machine table, Younghyun and I physically constructed the lamp.