Ultrasound Motion Lab
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Das Ultrasound Motion Lab basiert auf einem ESP32- oder Arduino-kompatiblen Mikrocontroller und einem Ultraschall-Distanzsensor. Es misst die Position, berechnet Geschwindigkeit und Beschleunigung und zeigt anschliessend s-t-, v-t- und a-t-Diagramme in Echtzeit direkt im Webbrowser über WebSerial an.
The Ultrasound Motion Lab is based on an ESP32 or Arduino-compatible microcontroller and an ultrasonic distance sensor. It measures position and calculates velocity and acceleration, then displays real-time s-t, v-t and a-t graphs directly in a web browser using WebSerial.
Le Ultrasound Motion Lab est une expérience de physique basée sur un microcontrôleur compatible ESP32 ou Arduino et un capteur de distance à ultrasons. Il mesure la position, calcule la vitesse et l’accélération, puis affiche les graphiques s-t, v-t et a-t en temps réel directement dans un navigateur web avec WebSerial.
L'Ultrasound Motion Lab si basa su un microcontrollore compatibile ESP32 o Arduino e su un sensore di distanza a ultrasuoni. Misura la posizione, calcola la velocità e l'accelerazione e visualizza in tempo reale i grafici s-t, v-t e a-t direttamente in un browser web tramite WebSerial.
Download
Basic Setup
| Part | Purpose | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
ESP32 / ESP32-C3 / Arduino-compatible board | Reads the sensor and sends data over USB serial. | The current version was tested with ESP32 boards. |
 |
Ultrasonic distance sensor SR04 | Measures the distance to the moving object. | Use a 3.3 V compatible module (new version) when connecting directly to ESP32 pins. |
 |
Web browser with WebSerial support | Displays the live graphs. | Works best with Chrome or Chromium-based browsers. |
Screenshot
Serial Data Format
The microcontroller sends one line of comma-separated data for each measurement:
time_ms,distance_m,velocity_m_s,acceleration_m_s2
Hardware Setup
- SR04 VCC -> ESP32 3.3 V
- SR04 GND -> ESP32 GND
- SR04 TRIG -> ESP32 GPIO 25
- SR04 ECHO -> ESP32 GPIO 26
Videos
Complete Setup Guide
Youtube Video
Motion Tracking with an HC SR04 Ultrasound Sensor
Youtube Video
Credits
This project originated from a student project in 203-SNC-VA Mechatronics and Computational Physics at Vanier College.
Original Arduino Prototype:
Mobile Distance Sensor
Sophia Caruntu and Arman Ibne Kamal
Vanier College, Winter 2026
ESP32 implementation and addition of velocity-time (v-t) and
acceleration-time (a-t) graphs:
Stefan Bracher