I would imagine that this can be done via a laptop, but I would suggest that you have a look into a PLC type system. There are many companies out there who deal with this kind of logic control that would also offer advice, plus you have the advantage of being able to "fit and forget" the electronic control somewhere which will also be far more robust than a pc.
On 5/5/05, Erik <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello, > I have an idea to control a hydraulic system with software. Now I would > like some suggestions for hardware and software. Sorry for my bad > english, but I barely know what these things mean in swedish yet. I have > never done anything like this before. > > This is what I have: > A device that can be moved up and down with a lever that affects a > hydraulic valve. There is a marker on the moving device. This marker > moves along a fixed scale, so that the height of the device can be read. > The lever can be pulled in 2 directions, to move the device up and down > respectively. > I often have to adjust the device to certain heights. That is a tedious > task, because the scale is not so easy to read, and it is not easy to > get good precision with the lever. > > What I want: > I want to set the height numerically and have a program that adjusts the > device to that height. All equipment that is attached to the device must > resist vibrations, and preferrably also dust, sunlight and rain. The > precision should be 1 mm and the measurement range something like 0 m to 1 m > > My idea: > A sensor that senses the height, a computer controlled hydraulic valve > and a program. I have found a sensor at > http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/prod/acc/PingDocs.pdf and I think I can > do the necessary programming. I would like to connect this to a laptop > with Gentoo, which has USB, IEEE1394, pccard and ethernet available. The > cable may have to be 10 m long to keep the laptop away from the > unfriendly environment. > > If you have done anything like this before, or know where I can find > more information or know about some more specialized mailing list, I > would appreciate your suggestions. > -- > [email protected] mailing list > > -- [email protected] mailing list
