The fast twitch eye muscle on a robot is only as good as its processor. And with many robotic projects where mobility and motion is part of the design, the speed and reliability of the twitch can be the difference between a successful foray or a smash and crash.
Which is where nanosecond response time and reliability—a PRU specialty—is crucial. To that end, let us look at a more ambitious recipe that cooks up a way to use the PRUs with one of those cheap and ubiquitous ultrasonic range sensors, the kind that are commonly found on basic robotic devices. The sensor uses sound to send a ping, similar to what a submarine does to measure the time between sending and receiving a signal for determining distance from an object.
