
168 Chapter 9 • Expanding Your Options with Kits and Creative Solutions
The casing around the pyroelectric sensor has a small hole that lets its internal
“eye” receive the infrared light any warm body produces. It requires some time to
adapt to the ambient radiation, but afterward it can detect any change in intensity.
These features make it unsuitable for mobile robots, but it’s very useful in those pro-
jects where a robot must start doing something when it detects a human presence.
Probably the most astonishing of Barnes’ devices is his Voice Recognition unit
(Figure 9.16).After a short teaching session, you will be able to give simple one-
or tw ...