yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) (12/05/90)
I'm tracking down some info here for a researcher who wants to use his
Mac IIsi as a timer and counter. One external device he would like to
hook up is an infra-red beam "people counter".
It may be a case of ludicrous overkill to get an A/D board to do this
but does anyone have a better way? How about going thru the ADB port
somehow. I assume there are no "off the shelf" solutions to this guy's
problem and he may end up having to piecemeal the thing together, but it
may be prohibitive in cost and/or time. Any suggestions? - Ross
>>> yahnke@macc.wisc.edu <<<russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) (12/06/90)
In article <4931@dogie.macc.wisc.edu> yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) writes: >I'm tracking down some info here for a researcher who wants to use his >Mac IIsi as a timer and counter. One external device he would like to >hook up is an infra-red beam "people counter". > >It may be a case of ludicrous overkill to get an A/D board to do this >but does anyone have a better way? How about going thru the ADB port >somehow. I assume there are no "off the shelf" solutions to this guy's >problem and he may end up having to piecemeal the thing together, but it >may be prohibitive in cost and/or time. Any suggestions? - Ross > >>>> yahnke@macc.wisc.edu <<< This is sort of a weird suggestion, but---- hook the thing up to the mouse button or one of the keys on the keyboard. Use ResEdit to make that key do nothing. (one of the function keys on the extended keyboard might work) Then you can write routines which watch the ADB for the key transition or mouse transition. (it shouldn't be too hard to jerry-rig something to take the place of a keyswitch) -- Matthew T. Russotto russotto@eng.umd.edu russotto@wam.umd.edu .sig under construction, like the rest of this campus.
rlk@telesoft.com (Bob Kitzberger @sation) (12/12/90)
In some article yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) writes: >I'm tracking down some info here for a researcher who wants to use his >Mac IIsi as a timer and counter. One external device he would like to >hook up is an infra-red beam "people counter". > >It may be a case of ludicrous overkill to get an A/D board to do this >but does anyone have a better way? How about going thru the ADB port >somehow. I assume there are no "off the shelf" solutions to this guy's >problem and he may end up having to piecemeal the thing together, but it >may be prohibitive in cost and/or time. Any suggestions? - Ross > >>>> yahnke@macc.wisc.edu <<< I did this a while back when I used the Mac do prototype an embedded fire alarm monitor station. Get yourself a catalog from Opto-22 corporation, which makes wonderful I/O boards that hang off of an RS-232C line. Each Opto-22 board has up to 16 relays, A/D, D/A, SSRs, etc. as well as on-board timers/counters, etc. Hook one up to the Mac's RS232 line (using a RS422-RS232 converter if needed) and write a program to talk to the Opto-22 (you can even use a terminal emulator to get up to speed on talking to the Opto-22 boards). You issue commands from the Mac to the Opto-22 board in simple ASCII (with checksums, etc. for integrity). Great stuff, not too expensive (maybe $100-$200 for a board and a bunch of I/O devices). If you need more info (e.g. Opto-22's address) drop me a line. .Bob. -- Bob Kitzberger Internet : rlk@telesoft.com TeleSoft uucp : ...!ucsd.ucsd.edu!telesoft!rlk 5959 Cornerstone Court West, San Diego, CA 92121-9891 (619) 457-2700 x163 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Civilization rests on two things," said Hitzig; "the discovery that fermentation produces alcohol, and voluntary ability to inhibit defecation." -- Robertson Davies, "The Rebel Angels"