[General]Position/Motion sensors

Got a question.

I have seen google auto driving car project and they use ir sensors.

Anyone knows what kind of sensors they use and what kind of data sensor outputs?

Mmm...
Google driverless car - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Snippet:
"artificial intelligence software that combines input from video cameras inside the car, a LIDAR sensor on top of the vehicle, radar sensors on the front of the vehicle and a position sensor attached to one of the rear wheels that helps locate the car's position on the map."

Hm, that shit is expensive.

Are there possible alternatives for smaller environments?

For example ~100 degrees view angle up to 8-10ft range.

Um, for a small model I'm sure there's some kind of way to do this using Arduino chips which aren't too expensive.. (probably around $100 - $150 USD range for everything.. excluding the model car)

edit: yup Sensor tutorials - IR remote receiver/decoder tutorial

That link isn't exactly to the T what you're looking for, but it should definitely get you started.

You can find the other pieces you need, as that's hardly all of it.

Someone made a range tracker based on Arduino:
http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/to...8.new.html#new

Gotta love Arduino!

Edit 2:

Found this, it's perfect, research it.
Arduino Robot: Lottie Lemon Video for World Maker Faire NYC 2011 - YouTube