Paul, (Et Al.,) a quick update. I stumbled across some content outta' Mississippi State that looked really helpful. I even contacted one of the Professors there and he has been SO gracious and helpful. As a result of his assistance, information, and direction, I now have (sitting on my wife's kitchen counter, testing her patience) a number of electronic components, chips, cap's, resi's, LED's, breadboard, batteries, switches/buttons, wires, power supply, breadboard, programmer, USB xfer kit, C-language compiler, and a few other things of which I know yet naught. I also have a copy of said Professor's textbook and I'm almost done with Chapter 1; probably would be if could quit skippin' around and playin' with those little, blinky-LED's!
However, those itty-bitty brightspots are fun and even my kids are (at least a bit) interested. Heck, my 12.5 year-old son actually listened attentively while I explained the concept of a resistor in a circuit with an LED. Of course, bein' a just-wise-enuf' Dad, I didn't reveal to him that I had pretty much covered my knowledgebase on the topic in far less than 60 seconds! Related to the display timer device, I will be planning visibility testing over the weekend and hope to accomplish some by next weekend. This involves some basic analysis, both eyeball and camera, related to LED brightness, density, color, number, "character" size, etc, essentially all the variables related to layout/design and ultimate assembly of the LED and LED-related components. The simple question is, "What's it gonna' take to make this thing as see-able as I think it ought to be?" This is easier, at least f/the moment, than the programming, controller, and electronics side and, since the conclusions also factor into component selection and sourcing, I think it takes priority. Then I'll move on to the real dirty work of learning how to program the control of those "thousand points of light". Down the R:oad a ways is my thinking on additional components/devices and interfacing with R:base. I have a boatload of links, downloads, print-to-PDF's, etc, if you'd like me to bundle 'em up and share with you (or anyone else). I'm also gonna' start recording some images of what I'm doin' and the kids therewith. Now, every time my 7.5-year-old daughter knows I've been at the breadboard, she asks, "Daddy, can I push the button now?" Lemme' tell you, that's way better than her pushin' my buttons, her brother's, or even more so, her Mom's! L8R, Steve in "The Bright Lights of Memphis"? -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paul InterlockInfo Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 12:35pm 12:35 To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - RE: Beginner Microcontroller Programming - Not Really OT Once I Learn Enough To Interface W/RBase ... Not trying to jump in here and rain on any parades but here is my .02. I believe the display would be like the one that you see at the end of a quarter mile tract. It is easy to read and if you watch the show 'Pinks' you will see what I think he is talking about. So with that thinking and a logic board, leds, and spec's from USB I/O could you use Razzak's Timer and output to ..... (I need to think about this....) and Hyperterminal or .......... Led are cheap and now you can get .5" 160 degree display and better out there. As far as I/O from USB I have reference data on that. Also available from several sites. Javier I think it could be done and far much better than lying around (not saying any of us do that, you have to understand my business to understand me and that statement! ) so I am being very nice in that statement. I would like to part take in the group discussion on this - So count me in. I will also ask my son (son- hard to say when he is 23 years old) to think about this also. I have a few people to ask questions to also. All for the kids - No cost. Sincerely, Paul Dewey New Horizon Interlock Inc. New Horizon Safety Diagnostics Inc. www.interlockinfo.com Saving Lives - One Breath at A Time T This e-mail message is intended only for the named recipient(s) above and is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act 18 U.S.C. Section 2510-2521. This e-mail is confidential and may contain information that is privileged or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you have received this message in error please immediately notify the sender by return e-mail and delete this e-mail message from your computer. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Wills, Steve Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 11:39 AM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - RE: Beginner Microcontroller Programming - Not Really OT Once I Learn Enough To Interface W/RBase ... So, Javier, it seems that you have some background here ... no, wait, I WILL resist the temptation to exploit you for your knowledge, at least beyond the bounds of common courtesy. Your thinking is solid and some of the possibilities you describe have crossed my mind. However, when you talk about "no programming", for example, I would ask you if you're talking about the various LED and/or flip-clock timer/clock displays I've encountered in my WWW searches, which appear to be available from a number of vendors, or if you're talking about something lower-level, like firmware. I ask for a couple of reasons. Most of the units I've seen in any of the sports/track-and-field/industrial/advertising fields, while often capable, become price-prohibitive and even exorbitantly expensive in some cases, especially as character size increases to 5" or beyond and hardening against weather enter the feature-set. We are just a little middle school league and this is as much a personal pet-project as it is anything else. OTOH, going the DIY route could be interesting and/or fun, as well as cheaper, even if the scope of functionality is more limited. Of course, being such a newbie in this arena, I currently feel as though I'm lost in the woods. When I find a path to "enlightenment" - hopefully via some ultrabright, blue LEDs - I think I will enjoy the learning, tinkering, and building of such a device. It's one of those type of Don Quixote self-education pursuits that keep me off the streets and capable of diverse conversation at social functions. By the time my 2nd-grade daughter gets to 8th grade, whether she runs or not, I hope to have the 2-line display functioning, with the clock allowing a pre-set lag time to synch' it with an "official" timepiece, with one display showing the 'P NNN - HH:MM:SS', triggered by the button push at the finish line, which will also log those 2 data items into an Rbase table (or at least a text file for uploading thereto). Yep', it'll probably take some time and effort on my part, as it did with my 'SAA & SDS 2007 XC' DVD. Then, at some point in the not-too-distant future, maybe I'll invite you over and we can discuss how long it should take to cook burgers and dogs and put away a couple of cold ones, all the while basking in the cool, bright-blue glow of my not-so-official patio timer display! Anyway, if you do have any "embedded" knowledge that you think would be helpful and you're willing to share, please feel free to do so. Thanks, Steve -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Javier Valencia Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 1:13pm 13:13 To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - RE: Beginner Microcontroller Programming - Not Really OT Once I Learn Enough To Interface W/RBase ... Steve: There are available timer/counters available that would do what you want to do with no programming. You can get one that has a "hold" capability that is activated by a switch that will "freeze" the display and resume when the switch is released, there are many companies that make relay board that can be used to easily achieve this. You can also get displays with built-in RS-232C protocol, although most laptops no longer have a serial port; I am sure that there are others that work with USB protocol. Another option would be to get an LCD wide screen TV that you can use as a second monitor and just used it to display your results in big numbers. You can get a 32" LCD screen for about $500 and if you display just big numbers, you can probably see it for very far away...you might look at it as a small jumbo-tron... Javier, Javier Valencia 913-915-3137 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Wills, Steve Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 12:09 PM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - Beginner Microcontroller Programming - Not Really OT Once I Learn Enough To Interface W/RBase ... Anybody out there have any experience with microcontroller programming? This might be my "Rube Goldberg" brain at not-so-productive work, but I mentioned a while back that I am interested in building an LED display timer (a big-a$$, numeric stopwatch that even my near-sighted son can see from at least 100m out) for my kids' middle school cross country meets. Ultimately, I would like to interface it with Rbase or other compiled app' to a laptop or PDA-type device, in order to capture finish positions and times, and add a second display to hold the position and time of the most recent finisher. The ultimate benefit is that we could RAPIDLY compile meet/race results and maintain a record of performance data for all teams, kids, coaches, families, Et Al., which I would hope to make available via WWW (RWeb?). NOW, back to my Q, if anyone has experience with any microcontroller programming, I'd love to hear about it. It seems that the 2 languages of choice (at least for learning) are variations/versions of BASIC or C. I'm actually more comfortable w/C, but I don't think which language matters as much as the selection of microcontroller and the learning/educational products and support. I have found several chips/chip families, with apparently sufficient learning materials and 3rd party resources: - Microchip PIC - Parallax Stamp - Arduino - ATMEL - Etc. Any feedback would be appreciated as I'm trying to learn enough to know how to spend my money ... Thanks, Steve J. Stephen Wills Program Manager, Research Informatics Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research University of Tennessee Health Science Center 62 S. Dunlap, Suite 400 Memphis, TN 38163 Office: 901-448-2389 FAX : 901-448-7133
