Performance comparison of Infrared and Ultrasonic sensors for obstacles of different materials in vehicle/robot navigation applications

In robotics, Ultrasonic sensors and Infrared sensors are commonly used for distance measurement. These low-cost sensors fundamentally address majority of problems related to the obstacle detection and obstacle avoidance. In this paper, the performance comparison of ultrasonic and infrared measurement techniques across obstacles of different types of materials presented. The Vehicle model integrated with the sensors, moving with constant velocity towards different types of obstacles for capturing the distance parameter. Based on the data acquired from the sensors, correlation analysis of the measured distance with actual distance performed. This analysis will be very much useful, to select the right sensor - Ultrasonic sensor / Infrared sensor or a combination of both sensors, while developing the algorithm for addressing obstacle detection problems. The detection range and inherent properties of sensors (reflection! absorption etc.) also were tested in this experiment.