Ultrasonic Range Detector Using Arduino and the SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor

This is a preliminary instructable that will take you through the steps I took to get the SR04 ULTRASONIC SENSOR  connected  and working to the Arduino. It will then be incorporated to my mini environment monitor.  Eventually, if it all fits, it will end up in a Startrek  toy tricorder casing I found in my junk box..

Step 1: Connecting the SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor to the Arduino

Step 2: Parts List

1               Arduino uno R3, or any Arduino for that matter
1               SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor
1               breadboard
4               Jumper Wires

Step 3: Connect Ultrasonic Sensor to Arduino

You Need 4 Jumper wires to conect the SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor to the Arduino:

1  From the SR04  VCC pin to the Arduino 5v
1 From the SR04  GND pin to the Arduino GND
1 From the SR04  TRG pin to the Arduino Digital pin 12
1 From the SR04  ECHO pin to the Arduino Digital pin 11


That's All The wireing you need... Easy,  no?

Next Step, load the Software library and sketches.

Step 4: Step 4 Download SR04 Library and Install to Arduino IDE

You need to download another Library  to get the Arduino to talk with the SR04 sensor. The sensor I got didn't come with any documentation, so I Googled around until I found a library that works.
I found an optimized library here
Download the library unzip it,  and install it in the Arduino IDE. Place it inside your Arduino libraries folder , and restart the Arduino IDE. For convenience, I included the file  in  the files section below.

You should now be able to see the  library and examples in  select File > Examples > NewPing > NewPingexample sketch.
load the sketch to your Arduino.

If you were successful at installing the libraries, and loading the NewPingexample sketch,  Compile the sketch  by clicking on the verify button and make sure there are no errors.

It's time to connect your Arduino to your PC using the USB cable.  Click on the upload button  to upload the sketch to the Arduino.

Once uploaded to the Arduino, open the serial monitor, and you should see the distance  data stream   coming from the sensor.

Step 5: Final Step and Preview of the Sensor Conected to My Mini Enviroment Monitor, Soon to Be Tricorder.

Comments

[kirti1]

hi sir i made s distance as a constant. but i has to know the timing
can u please help me to write a code

[Tanmay Deuskar]

I've tried this but no matter what the sensor returns 0. Why?

[JohnH845]

Hey guys, I work with livestock animals, one of my duties it to make sure all feed bins never run out of feed. So, how I incorporate this concept into my application? Basically I would like to install the ultrasonic sensor inside the feed bin, measuring the distance from the top of the bin to feed below, then I would like the info to be transmitted to a LCD screen inside my feed making facility in the form of a graph. Can someone point in th right direction? Thank You!

[Omere19]

you should install the sensor on the ceiling, and then measure the distance when the bins are empty, and then you can program it so it will say out of food when the distance=this distance

[LydiaR16]

I hooked up two sensors using the same pins. The serial monitor shows the closest distance of the two.

[mniyaz]

Hi, I used the same code. The sensor is giving wrong data, it shows only around half of the distance. Say if actual distance is 60cm's it returns 30cm's.

[DavidM458]

hi, how can i use one ultrasonic sensor to obtain two readings and compute area

[kavalcoco]

I will build it tomorrow . I want to install it to measure hight of water in our pond and display the result in my room. I have all the parts, and hope to complete and test tomorrow. Thanks for clear instructions

[RohanG28]

hey guys i got the 0cm all the time problem too, and then some weird characters.

the problem was that the baud rate in the program was 115200 and the baud rate in the serial monitor(lower right) was set to the default 9600. change it to 115200 and you'll be set :D

[BrunoS35]

Thanks a lot, Rohan. I had not realized it, but got it working now...

[ChrisP278]

You might have the wires reversed

Try swapping the wires or swapping the pin numbers in the code

[Lee Wilkerson]

The link you have listed in step 4 no longer works. The new one:

https://bitbucket.org/teckel12/arduino-new-ping/wiki/Home

[RaviP82]

For some waterproofing experiment, I covered my receiver and trigger alternately with thin latex film getting correct reading. Then I covered both the receiver and transmitter with latex but now I am getting -1,means the pulse is not getting received.

[kunj kapadia]

Arduino: 1.7.10 (Windows 8.1), Board: "Arduino Uno"

C:\Users\DELL\AppData\Local\Temp\build6771404923751407265.tmp/core.a(wiring.c.o): In function `delay':

C:\Users\DELL\Desktop\Saraswati Diksha\Arduino\hardware\arduino\avr\cores\arduino/wiring.c:114: undefined reference to `yield'

collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status

Error compiling.

This report would have more information with

"Show verbose output during compilation"

enabled in File > Preferences.

[m.sathyap]

can I use both serial monitor and lcd in this project

[SyedA58]

yes u can..

[SyedA58]

Seril,println( distance );

lcd.print(distance);

[blockswitch]

outputs this

Ping: 22cm

7cm

Ping: 7cm

Ping: 7cm

Ping: 7cm

Ping: 8cm

ing: 7cm

Ping: 8cm

Ping: 7cm

Ping: 8cm

Ping: 8cm

Ping: 8cm

Ping: 22cm

Ping: 8cm

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[JurieP]

I also had a problem with it reporting 0cm all the time. I finally figured out that the echo input pin for some reason was stuck on high. Adding the following line of code before conducting a sonar ping solved it: digitalWrite(ECHO_PIN, LOW);

[mg53]

Aim the sensor at a wall or other large solid object within 30cm. Just mentioning this on the off chanch that you haven't tried this. Good luck!