Maxbotix Controller Available
- Thread starter gduprey
- Start date
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
It's in their documentation (link in my How-To).Rupp said:
A particularly cool use of these sensors has been for beam break detectors in doorways.
In particular, if you are interested in not only knowing if someone came through a door, but which way they came through, in the past, you'd need two beams and figure which got crossed first, etc.
If you install a EZ1 at a high enough angle to the door, you can figure the measurement when it first change and last changed to determine which way the person went. The controller has a ranging mode where you can tell it that you only want reports about changes in a certain range of measures. This is important because if they beam is at a sufficiantly high enough angle, it'll probably go further than the door and you really don't want to gets reports when someone just walks by the door.
The controller will report when the range is entered and exited and from which direction the range was entered and which direction the range was exited, making it easy to track direction of passage.
Actually, I've been impressed with the range of uses folks are putting the EZ1's to (I'm talking to a number of folks who are ordering the controller trying to see what sort of variety there is out there).
Here are a couple of the things that folks have told me they are using the EZ1 and the controller for (all of these could be done with just the EZ1 and more processing on the client side -- the controller is doing nothing magic to make any of these possible):
Occupancy sensing
Car placement in the garage (i.e. parking in the right spot
door/beam break tracking
The now classic salt-tank tracking
The less classic oil tank measuring
Bomb defusing robots (seriously -- very cool robot with 12 sensors)
Sump pump measurement/tracking/alerting
Rain barrel/cistern tracking
The next version of the firmware has the ability to use an otherwise unused sensor channel as a digital output. You can program a sensor so that when something is in a given range (or not in that range), the digital output goes high (or low). I'm adding this because there are a few places where I just really need to light a light or sound a buzzer when things are in a certain range or not and I don't need a whole computer. Since the controller can control 12 sensors but I rarely use more than 2 per board, that is up to 10 digital IO pins available. It won't handle all uses, but there is a range of small tracking uses that it will simplify (for me, if nothing else)
Gerry
In particular, if you are interested in not only knowing if someone came through a door, but which way they came through, in the past, you'd need two beams and figure which got crossed first, etc.
If you install a EZ1 at a high enough angle to the door, you can figure the measurement when it first change and last changed to determine which way the person went. The controller has a ranging mode where you can tell it that you only want reports about changes in a certain range of measures. This is important because if they beam is at a sufficiantly high enough angle, it'll probably go further than the door and you really don't want to gets reports when someone just walks by the door.
The controller will report when the range is entered and exited and from which direction the range was entered and which direction the range was exited, making it easy to track direction of passage.
Actually, I've been impressed with the range of uses folks are putting the EZ1's to (I'm talking to a number of folks who are ordering the controller trying to see what sort of variety there is out there).
Here are a couple of the things that folks have told me they are using the EZ1 and the controller for (all of these could be done with just the EZ1 and more processing on the client side -- the controller is doing nothing magic to make any of these possible):
Occupancy sensing
Car placement in the garage (i.e. parking in the right spot
door/beam break tracking
The now classic salt-tank tracking
The less classic oil tank measuring
Bomb defusing robots (seriously -- very cool robot with 12 sensors)
Sump pump measurement/tracking/alerting
Rain barrel/cistern tracking
The next version of the firmware has the ability to use an otherwise unused sensor channel as a digital output. You can program a sensor so that when something is in a given range (or not in that range), the digital output goes high (or low). I'm adding this because there are a few places where I just really need to light a light or sound a buzzer when things are in a certain range or not and I don't need a whole computer. Since the controller can control 12 sensors but I rarely use more than 2 per board, that is up to 10 digital IO pins available. It won't handle all uses, but there is a range of small tracking uses that it will simplify (for me, if nothing else)
Gerry
Probably a few weeks til the next firmware version -- I'm going away next week for a litle vacation. If you are looking for the general control (i.e. serial but not digital), that is available now. As for distances, the EZ1s use TTL levels and I have the controller set to drive the signal reasonably hard (well a full 20ma when less would be fine), so my guess in an electrically quiet environment might be as much as 50-75 feet. The other side of the controller is full RS232 levels and can easily drive 300 feet or more.
Gerry
Gerry
Hi Gerry
The next version of the firmware has the ability to use an otherwise unused sensor channel as a digital output. You can program a sensor so that when something is in a given range (or not in that range), the digital output goes high (or low). I'm adding this because there are a few places where I just really need to light a light or sound a buzzer when things are in a certain range or not and I don't need a whole computer. Since the controller can control 12 sensors but I rarely use more than 2 per board, that is up to 10 digital IO pins available. It won't handle all uses, but there is a range of small tracking uses that it will simplify (for me, if nothing else)
I was thinking it would be good to use the unused pins as you mentioned as digital outputs but be able to send commands to them to turn on / off as required ........
Also was thinking in a future pcb update ..mod it so that it can be a master pcb and also a slave pcb...so if users decide to have say 8 sensors they can purchase the second pcb only and have a ribbon cable which links between slave and master...
Just a few thoughts
Frank
The next version of the firmware has the ability to use an otherwise unused sensor channel as a digital output. You can program a sensor so that when something is in a given range (or not in that range), the digital output goes high (or low). I'm adding this because there are a few places where I just really need to light a light or sound a buzzer when things are in a certain range or not and I don't need a whole computer. Since the controller can control 12 sensors but I rarely use more than 2 per board, that is up to 10 digital IO pins available. It won't handle all uses, but there is a range of small tracking uses that it will simplify (for me, if nothing else)
I was thinking it would be good to use the unused pins as you mentioned as digital outputs but be able to send commands to them to turn on / off as required ........
Also was thinking in a future pcb update ..mod it so that it can be a master pcb and also a slave pcb...so if users decide to have say 8 sensors they can purchase the second pcb only and have a ribbon cable which links between slave and master...
Just a few thoughts
Frank
Howdy Frank,
Software control over the IO pins would be easy, so I'll add commands for that (simple "set pin high" and "set pin low") -- commands would be ignored if there was a sensor configured for that pin.
The expansion abilities of the board are related to something I already want to do as a result of the firmware update -- bringing out all the IO pins to some sort of header. With that, you could use up to 2 boards with no processor/logic as expansion for 12 sensors, but it would all be a tie in point for the digital IO connections. I'd probably make that an optional 2-row IDC connector and folks could either solder wires in or a header if they wanted. However, I ordered 50 boards and so far 4 have been spoken for, so it may be a while before there is another order
Gerry
Software control over the IO pins would be easy, so I'll add commands for that (simple "set pin high" and "set pin low") -- commands would be ignored if there was a sensor configured for that pin.
The expansion abilities of the board are related to something I already want to do as a result of the firmware update -- bringing out all the IO pins to some sort of header. With that, you could use up to 2 boards with no processor/logic as expansion for 12 sensors, but it would all be a tie in point for the digital IO connections. I'd probably make that an optional 2-row IDC connector and folks could either solder wires in or a header if they wanted. However, I ordered 50 boards and so far 4 have been spoken for, so it may be a while before there is another order
Gerry
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
Would it be possible to get this newer firmware for my order (I can wait till it's available)? It's the one for delivery to Las Vegas, NV.
It's the one for delivery to Las Vegas, NV.Howdy,
Yes -- all parameters are stored in EEPROM so power fail will not require any sort of reconfiguration. If you define ranges and have various reporting control flags for a sensor, they will all be restored at startup.
You can hook the controller to a computer, configure it and then move it to it's final destination and never need to configure it again.
Gerry
Yes -- all parameters are stored in EEPROM so power fail will not require any sort of reconfiguration. If you define ranges and have various reporting control flags for a sensor, they will all be restored at startup.
You can hook the controller to a computer, configure it and then move it to it's final destination and never need to configure it again.
Gerry
Well, after the promised "few weeks" (oh, about 26 weeks), the firmware update is complete and available over at the www.rgbled.org site. Folks can download the new firmware, the docs, change logs, etc.
This got bogged down because adding the additional abilities pushed me over a few limits of the PIC chip and debugging it was incredibly difficult. I eventually shelved it in disgust and moved on to a few other projects while I reconsidered. Eventually, I found a nifty way over some limitations I had run into in the past and picked up a workable hardware PIC debugger. By that point, I was immersed in the tiRGBLED (10 RGBLED controller) and the RGBLED Sequencer project, both of which finished up last week. I finally was able to get back to this and cleanup the few remaining details this week.
Great thanks to Frank Mc Alinden who has tested more of my crap than any sane person should ever be exposed to (firmware for the RGBLED, mRGBLED, tiRGBLED and the Maxbotix controllers). Without his great help and dutiful reporting back (and tolerance for "every night a new firmware" events), none of these projects would have come out they way they did.
In the end, I think the result isn't perhaps worth that long of a wait, but reasonable. The extra lines can be used for manually controlled output, automatic outputs (tied to other on-board sensors), manually polled digital inputs or automatic reporting digital inputs and is more more stable than before (like a rock).
Gerry
This got bogged down because adding the additional abilities pushed me over a few limits of the PIC chip and debugging it was incredibly difficult. I eventually shelved it in disgust and moved on to a few other projects while I reconsidered. Eventually, I found a nifty way over some limitations I had run into in the past and picked up a workable hardware PIC debugger. By that point, I was immersed in the tiRGBLED (10 RGBLED controller) and the RGBLED Sequencer project, both of which finished up last week. I finally was able to get back to this and cleanup the few remaining details this week.
Great thanks to Frank Mc Alinden who has tested more of my crap than any sane person should ever be exposed to (firmware for the RGBLED, mRGBLED, tiRGBLED and the Maxbotix controllers). Without his great help and dutiful reporting back (and tolerance for "every night a new firmware" events), none of these projects would have come out they way they did.
In the end, I think the result isn't perhaps worth that long of a wait, but reasonable. The extra lines can be used for manually controlled output, automatic outputs (tied to other on-board sensors), manually polled digital inputs or automatic reporting digital inputs and is more more stable than before (like a rock).
Gerry
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
Well, the good news is it is now available!gduprey said:
Some projects get bogged down due to one type of bug/problem or another. Not a big deal! That's just the way things go sometimes.
Looking forward to playing with the unit when it comes in. Thanks for sticking with it.
Regards,
BSR
