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Color Sensor

Detect color, reflected light, or ambient light using EV3 brick

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Add-On Required: This feature requires the Simulink Support Package for LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Hardware add-on.

  • Color Sensor block

Libraries:
Simulink Support Package for LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Hardware

Description

Use the Color Sensor block to detect the color of an object, measure reflected light, or measure ambient light using a color sensor connected to the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 brick.

During simulations without hardware, this block emits zeros. See Block Produces Zeros or Does Nothing in Simulation.

Ports

Output

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The block outputs color data the sensor detects of an object or its surrounding.

Dependencies

The block outputs these color values based on the mode you select.

  • Color — The block outputs the color of an object.

  • Reflected light intensity — The block outputs color intensity of an object.

  • Ambient light intensity — The block outputs ambient light intensity of the surrounding.

Data Types: uint8

Parameters

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Select the EV3 brick input port to which the color sensor is connected. Avoid assigning multiple devices to the same input port.

Select the light detection mode of the sensor that is connected to the EV3 brick.

  • Color — In this mode, the sensor evaluates the color of an object and outputs one of these values on the output port of the block.

    • 0 — Indicates that the sensor detects no color.

    • 1 — Indicates that the sensor detects the color black.

    • 2 — Indicates that the sensor detects the color blue.

    • 3 — Indicates that the sensor detects the color green.

    • 4 — Indicates that the sensor detects the color yellow.

    • 5 — Indicates that the sensor detects the color red.

    • 6 — Indicates that the sensor detects the color white.

    • 7 — Indicates that the sensor detects the color brown.

    For example, you can use this mode for EV3-based robots to solve Rubik's cube puzzles.

  • Reflected light intensity — In this mode, the sensor flashes the LED and measures the amount of light reflected on the nearby surfaces. The block outputs values from 0 to 100 where 0 indicates a dark surface and 100 indicates a light surface. For example, you can use this mode for EV3-based robots that to detect and follow a black line around an obstacle course.

  • Ambient light intensity — In this mode, the sensor measures the surrounding ambient light. The block outputs values from 0 to 100 where 0 indicates a dark surrounding ambience and 100 indicates a bright surrounding ambience. For example, you can use this mode for EV3-based robots to follow a light source.

Specify the frequency of how often the block reads values from the sensor connected to the EV3 brick. Shorter sample times, such as 0.01, may produce unreliable measurements.

Smaller sample times require the processor to complete the same number of instructions in less time, which can cause task overruns.

Version History

Introduced in R2012a

See Also

External Websites