Build a Sonar Radar Scanner Using Arduino, Ultrasonic Sensor & Processing IDE

Recreate the classic submarine sonar screen right on your monitor! An ultrasonic sensor mounted on a 180° sweeping servo measures distances at every degree, streaming angle,distance. packets over serial to a custom Processing graphic canvas that paints glowing radar sweeps and detected object blips.

1. Arduino Serial Streamer

cpp
#include <Servo.h>

const int trigPin = 10;
const int echoPin = 11;
Servo myServo;

void setup() {
  pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  myServo.attach(12);
}

int calculateDistance() {
  digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
  delayMicroseconds(2);
  digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
  delayMicroseconds(10);
  digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
  long duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);
  return duration * 0.034 / 2;
}

void loop() {
  for(int i = 15; i <= 165; i++) {
    myServo.write(i);
    delay(30);
    int dist = calculateDistance();
    Serial.print(i);
    Serial.print(",");
    Serial.print(dist);
    Serial.print(".");
  }
  for(int i = 165; i >= 15; i--) {
    myServo.write(i);
    delay(30);
    int dist = calculateDistance();
    Serial.print(i);
    Serial.print(",");
    Serial.print(dist);
    Serial.print(".");
  }
}