Hey everyone,
I am a recent Mechanical Engineer grad and I am now trying to learn more about the electronic aspect of things. It is no secret that most of the new technology coming out is being pushed by electronics and not so much the mechanical aspect.
I bought the Parallax "What's a Microcontroller?" kit which comes with the BS2 and an educational PCB setup with a little breadboard. I have a moderate understanding of programming and electronics and how they work but I don't know many of the devices or how you can use them together to perform a specific function.
I have a couple projects that I am looking to tackle and plan on using this as a test bed for my prototypes. The first one I am trying to use the BS2 microcontroller to detect when a mercury switch completes the circuit and then display either through a numbered LED or an LCD screen which one of the switches tripped.
I am trying to set it up so that I can have anywhere from 5-7 possible switches 50 yards or so away from the main base that will transmit a signal to the base when the circuit is completed.
Basically each mercury switch is going to be used to make a sensor to detect when a component is tilted and when the circuit completes it will transmit the signal to the base and the base will display which one tripped. The problem I am having is I have no idea how to do this with a wireless setup and I have no idea how I am going to build the sensor.
I am hoping some of you more knowledgeable people can offer me some insight as to how I can accomplish this in the most cost effective manner.
I believe each sensor will need its own TX chip, batteries, and mercury switch but will the base need a separate RX chip for each unit or can I use a single one? I have been scouring Google for help but I cannot find any useful info concerning the building and wiring of the sensor.
Thanks in advance for any help!
I am a recent Mechanical Engineer grad and I am now trying to learn more about the electronic aspect of things. It is no secret that most of the new technology coming out is being pushed by electronics and not so much the mechanical aspect.
I bought the Parallax "What's a Microcontroller?" kit which comes with the BS2 and an educational PCB setup with a little breadboard. I have a moderate understanding of programming and electronics and how they work but I don't know many of the devices or how you can use them together to perform a specific function.
I have a couple projects that I am looking to tackle and plan on using this as a test bed for my prototypes. The first one I am trying to use the BS2 microcontroller to detect when a mercury switch completes the circuit and then display either through a numbered LED or an LCD screen which one of the switches tripped.
I am trying to set it up so that I can have anywhere from 5-7 possible switches 50 yards or so away from the main base that will transmit a signal to the base when the circuit is completed.
Basically each mercury switch is going to be used to make a sensor to detect when a component is tilted and when the circuit completes it will transmit the signal to the base and the base will display which one tripped. The problem I am having is I have no idea how to do this with a wireless setup and I have no idea how I am going to build the sensor.
I am hoping some of you more knowledgeable people can offer me some insight as to how I can accomplish this in the most cost effective manner.
I believe each sensor will need its own TX chip, batteries, and mercury switch but will the base need a separate RX chip for each unit or can I use a single one? I have been scouring Google for help but I cannot find any useful info concerning the building and wiring of the sensor.
Thanks in advance for any help!