This line tracking sensor from Waveshare is a great option if you’re building a line-following robot. The sensor has no less than FIVE infrared detection channels, allowing you to program your robot to stay within a line (and tell it what to do if you detect that the line has crossed the outer channels!).

This is a high-sensitivity line tracker with a high-precision analogue output and anti-jamming for stable line tracking performance.

The sensor has five analogue outputs, and the output data is affected by the distance and the colour of the detected object. The detected object with higher infrared reflectance (white) will produce a larger output value, whilst lower infrared reflectance (black) will produce a smaller output value. When the sensor is getting close to a black line, the output value will come to smaller and smaller.

Compared to other modules which only offer a logical HIGH/LOW output, we can get a more precise result for a much more controlled and stable robot.

Resources

• Product Wiki including setup instructions and code examples
• Dimensions (drawing)
• Basic wiring for a microcontroller is as follows:
  • VCC 3.3V ~ 5V
  • GND GND
  • IR1 MCU.IO (ch1, analogue output)
  • IR2 MCU.IO (ch2, analogue output)
  • IR3 MCU.IO (ch3, analogue output)
  • IR4 MCU.IO (ch4, analogue output)
  • IR5 MCU.IO (ch5, analogue output)

Package Contents

• 1x Tracker Sensor
• 1x XH2.54 7-pin wire

Specifications

• Power: 3.3V ~ 5V
• Dimension: 78mm 18mm
• Detector spacing: 16mm
• Mounting holes size: 3mm
• Detection range: 1cm ~ 5cm