Author Topic: Viewing Sensor Values  (Read 3601 times)

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Offline MarkBrownTopic starter

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Viewing Sensor Values
« on: August 19, 2008, 07:40:32 PM »
What is the best method to view the values a sensor is sending to my controller?  Do I have to set up some sort of wireless something or other to view what the controller is receiving?  Is this what UART is for?  Can I use a digital display to send the values I want to observe to?


With photo sensors, like the ones created in the $50 tutorial, what value is being sent to the controller.  It seems to me it would be the voltage with the resistance from the photo resistor applied.  I am trying to determine the range of values I could get from a photo resistor in what ever value the controller would receive.

Thanks very much for your help,

Mark
It is human nature to confuse genious with insanity

http://marksproject.blogspot.com/

Offline pomprocker

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2008, 08:22:41 PM »
use uart to send it to a com port, then u connect to your robot via hyperterminal and it prints your values to the screen

Offline airman00

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2008, 09:22:19 PM »
or just use a serial LCD display
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Offline Iron Man

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2008, 09:29:10 PM »
or you could create a binary LED display... that's always fun.


Offline Brandon121233

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2008, 07:28:07 PM »
you could use LEDs set at a PWM signal equal to the analog values you are getting off of your sensors ADC ports, thats a little less accurate but it beats lugging a computer around tethered to your robot to see what value its printing
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Offline pomprocker

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2008, 09:59:16 AM »
unless you have a BlueSMiRF  ;D

Offline Gertlex

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #6 on: August 22, 2008, 10:50:39 AM »
Aye. A bluetooth serial connection is one of the wireless ways to go.  I haven't gotten around to it myself since the one i have is a PITA to setup (i.e. power it on and wait 15 seconds before pairing x_x)
I

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #7 on: August 23, 2008, 08:25:01 PM »
If its an analog sensor, like a photoresistor, you could put a multimeter across it . . .

Offline MarkBrownTopic starter

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #8 on: August 23, 2008, 08:51:10 PM »
If its an analog sensor, like a photoresistor, you could put a multimeter across it . . .

Would that be across ground and and the sensor wire then?
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Offline Admin

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #9 on: August 23, 2008, 09:14:02 PM »
yup

but if you did power to sensor output wire, that would also work too ;D

Offline Brandon121233

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Re: Viewing Sensor Values
« Reply #10 on: August 23, 2008, 11:27:31 PM »
Why the heck would you pay $65 for a bluesmirf when you could just as easily put a chip of 1/20 the size and cost, with less power consumption, and further range that does the exact some thing? Like the Nordic nRF24L01 http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=690.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2008, 11:28:02 PM by Brandon121233 »
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