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20 years ago as a high school kid I figured out how to get my Apple IIE to plot a graph on the screen with basic that measured the voltage that a small light sensor produced. I have since been interested in data acquisition but have never gotten back to it. I am overwhelmed with the terminology and information available nowadays. What is the simplest way to connect my pc (hardware) with a water pressure sensor and write a program to monitor it visually. Should I use excel? Visual basic? Java? If I purchase a mac what is available from them? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Mac Programming
#1
petersboro 
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Posted 21 September 2007 - 04:23 PM
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#2
CurlingSteve
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Posted 21 September 2007 - 06:16 PM
20 years ago it was easier to do a Do It Yourself (DIY) project like that.
I'm guessing you took the output from the photosensor, ran it to an amplifier, then into an Analog to Digital (A/D) converter which you sampled periodically (with the software you wrote) via the AppleIIE's parallel port.
Does that sound familiar? And I haven't seen a parallel port in ages, have you?
The hard part in your project will be to find a sensor that will send data to (I'm guessing) a USB port and should come with a software driver to interface it (and manage logging data for you).
One the data log is available, it's your choice as to how you want to display/chart/graph it.
Excel would seem to be the best choice for experimenting with the output formats.
I'm guessing you took the output from the photosensor, ran it to an amplifier, then into an Analog to Digital (A/D) converter which you sampled periodically (with the software you wrote) via the AppleIIE's parallel port.
Does that sound familiar? And I haven't seen a parallel port in ages, have you?
The hard part in your project will be to find a sensor that will send data to (I'm guessing) a USB port and should come with a software driver to interface it (and manage logging data for you).
One the data log is available, it's your choice as to how you want to display/chart/graph it.
Excel would seem to be the best choice for experimenting with the output formats.
#3
isteve
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Posted 21 September 2007 - 10:15 PM
I agree with CurlingSteve it seems like a very simple thing to do as long as you have the hardware. And no need to buy a mac my guess is once it's written this type of thing could be done on pretty much anything even a smart phone.
#4
iccaros
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Posted 25 September 2007 - 06:36 PM
this project is simple.
you can use a basic stamp mac software for it http://www.muratnkon...erstuff/macbs2/
or just the microchip pic processor http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vo...ller/index.html
in either case you have the "processor" send its output to a file, I would save it as csv
then its up to you, but you could use excel at lest to graph it from a csv file or use nay other programing language to graph the output..
I say easy because use pic processors all the time , but hopefully I gave you enough information to get started.
ps this is written with the mind set that you want to do it your self, not just buy one.
you can use a basic stamp mac software for it http://www.muratnkon...erstuff/macbs2/
or just the microchip pic processor http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vo...ller/index.html
in either case you have the "processor" send its output to a file, I would save it as csv
then its up to you, but you could use excel at lest to graph it from a csv file or use nay other programing language to graph the output..
I say easy because use pic processors all the time , but hopefully I gave you enough information to get started.
ps this is written with the mind set that you want to do it your self, not just buy one.
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