Final Sensor Report
SpectraSymbol's SoftPot, a touch-sensitive linear potentiometer. See the report here.
Applications created for the SoftPot can be seen here.
Final Sensor Declaration
For my final sensor report, I have chosen a linear potentiometer from SpectraSymbol. Unlike most mechanical potentiometers, however, SpectraSymbol's use a polymeric carbon ink which "is deposited onto plastics for the static resistive element." This allows for a touch-sensitive linear potentiometer without any moving parts. The pot is wired with a power, ground and wiper (like most potentiometers) and can range in length from 0.25 inch to 6 feet!
SpectraSymbol supplies their products to Siemens, General Electric, Varian Medical, Adept Technologies and many other companies.
Week3
Datasheet Summary - QProx QT113
Week2
Communicating with Processing through a PIC has been something i have loathed (and avoided) ever since first trying about a year ago. Today I still don't enjoy the process, I can say, with confidence, that it is something I am comfortable in doing...
Why the turnaround? Simply, because it was something I had to do.
While the assignment was not aking for much, it took several days (4) of banging my head against the wall for it to sink in. I basically took the code samples Tom provided, used a basic potentiometer as a sensor, and tried to get those to work properly. Once those codes worked, I started to add bells and whistles. I've provided my codes and their results below.
Datalogging
I reworked Tom's Peak
Detection code as follows:
Sending All Sensor Data define OSC 4 SensorValue var word tx var portc.6 n9600 con 16468 TRISA = %11111111 Main: serout2 tx, n9600, [SensorValueB] low portb.0 |
Sending only Peak Values define OSC 4 PeakValue var word PeakValueB var byte tx var portc.6 n9600 con 16468 TRISA = %11111111 Main: ' if the sensorValue is not above the threshold, ' reset peakValue, since
we've finished with this peak:
|
After successfully implementing Tom's Processing Datalogger, I repurposed it as follows:
import processing.serial.*;
Serial myPort;
int serial = 1; // data from serial port
void setup () {
size(300, 300);
println(Serial.list());
myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
background(255);
noFill();
stroke (200);
ellipse (150, 150, 50, 50);
ellipse (150, 150, 100, 100);
ellipse (150, 150, 150, 150);
ellipse (150, 150, 200, 200);
ellipse (150, 150, 250, 250);
}
void draw () {
if (myPort.available() > 0) {
serial = myPort.read();
serialEvent();
}
}
void serialEvent () {
background(255);
fill(serial, serial/3, 100);
stroke (0);
ellipse(150, 150, serial, serial);
noFill();
stroke (200);
ellipse (150, 150, 50, 50);
ellipse (150, 150, 100, 100);
ellipse (150, 150, 150, 150);
ellipse (150, 150, 200, 200);
ellipse (150, 150, 250, 250);
println (serial);
}
I wanted to depart from the green and black horizontal scrolling mountains I so closely associate with computer-ness. I ended up using circles that grow as sensor data increases (turning a pot, pushing on an FSR, bending a flex sensor, et cetera). I also mapped the color of the circle to reflect the changing sensor levels. For reference, I added markers every 50 steps. Right now, the color changes with the growing circles but i would like to change it to reflect something different (like magnitude of change in peak value or an additional sensor's reading).
Check out my screen captures:
Tom Igoe's Datalogger
My Datalogging Ellipses
Week 1
Sensor experience: a day of exploring sensors
Sensors I experienced in one day
1) Alarm clock snooze button - while 'merely' a digital switch, it temporarily
pauses the alarm for exactly 9 minutes.
2) Touch-screen display - I used the touch-screen display of a self-service
digital picture printing station. I believe the display is pressure-sensitive,
with a thin membrane-type layer that rests atop the monitor, though it may
be heat- or area-sensing (like a QProx).
3) CD drive - the digital 'eye' of the drive passes under the surface of
the CD scanning digital 1's and 0's converting that information to, say,
images.
4) Bar code scanner - I know the sensor is a bar code reader, emitting a
series of red lasers recognizing the pattern of the 15 or so lined bar code,
but I don't really know how it works.
5) Credit card 'machine' - I call it a 'machine' because I don't actually
know what it's called, but I'm referring to the fancy ones that you swipe
your card in and then sign. There's a lot going on in there, what with the bar
reader, the touch pad, and the 'pen' you sign your name with. I had one actually
deny my signature when I 'signed' using a shape rather than my name. Thinking
about sensors, I'd have to say this is an impressive little invention!
6) automatic door opener - this is motion sensing, as the sensor box rests
obviously above the door.
7a) Laptop - while there must be dozens of sensors in my Apple-branded laptop,
I notice 2 on a daily basis. The first is what I believe to be a mechanical
sensor, 'knowing' when I open my laptop, awakening it from sleep and putting
it to sleep when I close it. I think the sensor is built in to the hinge
that clasps it closed.
7b) Laptop - The second sensor is a light sensor, hidden somewhere to the
left of the keyboard. The contrast adjusts based upon the lighting conditions
of the room my laptop is in. I know it to be to the left of the keyboard
because when I place my hand over the left speaker, the contrast adjusts
to accommodate a low-light setting.
8) Elevator - this 'modern miracle' uses an IR sensor (I think) to recognize
presence as the door closes.
