We are nearly done with our IR Prox Logic article. Getting a last few graphics done, and It will be ready to post. Some surprises when working in a household enviornment with IR Prox for navigation. We found that tunnel entrapment and small room entrapment to be major issues. With bumpers as you recall, the robots physical diamter is equal to the sensory diameter, and it can usually bounce its way out of a tight space.
Not so with IR prox. The robot is virtually 3x bigger, and can get itself into some fine predicaments in the home. What seems to happen is that a robot will get itself into a small confined area, and then cant get out because the reflectivity in IR on the outgoing trip is higher than the inbound. Thus it cant escape. Long corridor entrapment is also a major issue. A robot can make its way down a narrow hallway then it will at some point start hitting the walls. It can get itself wedged in so that all IR sensors are active at once. That is a difficult one to get out of!
Finally, we did some deep IR photography of a household enviornment at the same wavelength as the robot will see it in IR. The biggest surprise is that wood that is unvarnished is bone white. varnished wood is dark. whew.