Winter Project

[BobG]

Of course, my results are only appropriate for 40 +/- 2 degrees north latitude, after the vernal equinox, and before the autumnal equinox, normalized for optimal performance within -2/+3 months of the summer solstice. Your results may vary.

[babock]

Ever used an Arduino board?

I am an EE as well and am going to do a few boat related projects with it.

[woolznaz]

Of course, my results are only appropriate for 40 +/- 2 degrees north latitude, after the vernal equinox, and before the autumnal equinox, normalized for optimal performance within -2/+3 months of the summer solstice. Your results may vary.

Sure, now you tell me. That information would have helped with some of my rounding errors.

[BobG]

Ever used an Arduino board?
I am an EE as well and am going to do a few boat related projects with it.

No, but I have looked into it. One of my son's ex gf's was enrolled in ITT tech or something, and needed some coaching with her semester project, and using a PicAxe, so I tutored her, and realized this was a VERY attractive device, and VERY easy to interface with almost anything.

If I was building an autonomous flight controller for a hexacopter, I'd definitely go with the arduino solutions, but for basic electromechanical device control, this is perfect.

[lakerunner]

Ever used an Arduino board?
I am an EE as well and am going to do a few boat related projects with it.

No, but I have looked into it. One of my son's ex gf's was enrolled in ITT tech or something, and needed some coaching with her semester project, and using a PicAxe, so I tutored her, and realized this was a VERY attractive device, and VERY easy to interface with almost anything.

If I was building an autonomous flight controller for a hexacopter, I'd definitely go with the arduino solutions, but for basic electromechanical device control, this is perfect.

Bob I almost got hard reading that

[tuned]

for basic electromechanical device control, this is perfect.

I'd love to tap into some of your grey matter on this subject. Do you have any links to light reading on actuators (water proof) and how to interface with them from the control board outputs?
Due to age, my cheese is slowly starting to slip off the cracker so little words are best

[BobG]

I'd love to tap into some of your grey matter on this subject. Do you have any links to light reading on actuators (water proof) and how to interface with them from the control board outputs?
Due to age, my cheese is slowly starting to slip off the cracker so little words are best

OK, so actuators are the big deal here.
Basically, I said I need a 12 volt actuator:

http://www.dcactuators.com/Detail.asp?P ... .160_6112C

My mechanical design showed that I needed 12 inches of travel.

And, they have to be water resistant, or water proof. Here's where you learn about "IP" ratings. The IP rating of the actuator I chose is IP67. You can google IP ratings to see what that means, but it's pretty good, and actually, not real common.

You run the 12 volts through them in one direction to extend them, and you reverse it to retract them.
Most have built in limit switches, so once they get to the end, they automagically stop. The actuators I chose also have reed switches, so you can count the pulses as it moves (or just verify whether or not it IS still moving).

In addition, I run the motor through a 0.1 ohm resistor, and measure the voltage across it (with the analog to digital converter built into the PicAxe chip. 0.5 volts = 5 amps. I want to make sure it's not drawing too much current (stalled motor).

Basically, I do all the power switching with automotive headlight relays - they can handle the current.

The PicAxe 18 development board comes WITH the drivers to handle powering the relays. Their part number for that is CHI030B - cost under $20. http://www.picaxe.com/Hardware/Project- ... ect-Board/

[tuned]

Awesome simplification. Even I understood that stuff. My dog actually read it over my shoulder and had nothing snide to say. Research continues.

[Seon]

OK, so actuators are the big deal here.
Basically, I said I need a 12 volt actuator:

http://www.dcactuators.com/Detail.asp?P ... .160_6112C

And, they have to be water resistant, or water proof. Here's where you learn about "IP" ratings. The IP rating of the actuator I chose is IP67. You can google IP ratings to see what that means, but it's pretty good, and actually, not real common.

I've emailed/called several companies for the past week and the problem I've encountered is that no one carries an IP67. That is, except for one who quoted $4800 for one .