Phidgets I/O Board/Sensors + Microcontroller

[ib1yysguy]

Has anyone played around with interfacing Phidgets sensors with a microcontroller? They're designed to be controlled through one of their I/O boards via computer and USB. Is plugging their analog cable into a sensor port of, say, the Axon going to be useful?

What about those silly boards they come on? Take this for instance:
http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?product_id=1110

What good is a touch sensor when you have to have someone press a particular spot on an inconveniently designed board? Can you just rip off the touch sensing part and move it somewhere else more useful and connect it back to the little board with a couple wires?

And as far as LCD screens, theirs are nice but again they have to be interfaced through the PC. What good is an LCD that can't run independently? Don't most laptops already have screens? What are some alternatives LCDs one could use?

LASTLY, can one use a serial/USB converter between a microcontroller (say the AXON board, though it would be a waste of electronics, but just for the sake of example) and a Phidgets I/O board? This would let one use the handy digital in/outputs on the I/O board for useful interfacing things like buttons. Consider this board:
http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?product_id=1018

... or is there an easier way to use digital stuff like LEDs and push button interfacing with a microcontroller?

[MaltiK]

Using a phisgets board and an AXON is kind of an overkill. You see, both of them can be inputs for various sensors, also, both of them can be used as DAQ when connected to a computer

(Phidgets~to the software that comes with it I guess)
(Axon~with hyperterminal)

[Admin]

LASTLY, can one use a serial/USB converter between a microcontroller (say the AXON board, though it would be a waste of electronics, but just for the sake of example) and a Phidgets I/O board?

Nope, you need a host USB. Neither the Axon nor the Phidgets has one, but a PC does. You'd use the Axon with ADC if a computer wasn't required (such as for a robot).

Can you just rip off the touch sensing part and move it somewhere else more useful and connect it back to the little board with a couple wires?

Phidgets usually consist of 3 or 4 parts. The sensor, and a resistor or capacitor or two. You could just buy the parts and wire it up on a protoboard, they aren't complicated. The sensor datasheet almost certainly will have a working schematic for you to copy.

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[HyperNerd]

Hi ib1yysguy,

All that the Phidgets board does is provide an interface between a compurter and standard robotics hardware. All it has is a bunch of inputs / outputs, and a uC to talk to the computer. They are laughably simply devices. All this means is that you can just plug the Phidgets sensors into any ADC and read the raw data.

 -HyperNerd