Comparison with HC-SR04

You might wonder why there is a need for this sensor when ultrasonic module HC-SR04 is already available in the market. The comparison of Grove Ultrasonic Ranger and traditional ultrasonic module HC-SR04 is as follows:

1. The Grove – Ultrasonic Distance Sensor integrates a single-chip microcomputer, and the transmitting signal and the receiving signal share one pin by Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), so only one I/O pin is occupied. The HC-SR04 Ultrasonic (US) sensor comes with a 4 pin interface named VCC, Trig (signal output pin), Echo (signal input pin), and GND.
2. Grove – Ultrasonic Distance Sensor module supports 3.3V as well as 5 V, but HC-SR04 only supports 5v voltage. As we know, the Raspberry pi I/O only supports 3.3v. Therefore, Grove Ultrasonic Ranger Sensor can be directly connected to the I/O of the Raspberry Pi, but HC-SR04 needs to use a voltage conversion circuit. The image of both the modules is as given below.

Features:

1. Output: PWM
2. 3.3 V / 5 V compatible
3. Wide voltage level: 3.2 V~5.2 V
4. Only 3 pins needed, so saves I/O resources
5. Wide measurement range: 3 cm ~ 350 cm
6. Easy to use: Just plug-and-play