arduino uses ?

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

As to jargon
All trades/professions have there own “shared” short hands. .
Much of the time we forget that not everyone is steeped in that world..

We also talk of gauge plate ,silver steel, phosfor bronze when much of the greater herd would say “metal”..
Make no apology for none is needed when asking for expansion of a term..
Please accept mine in advance for when enthusiasm exceeds typing patience.

[Mark CParticipant @markc]

Jason,

"enthusiasm exceeds typing patience" That sums up exactly what was happening at the end of a long and (at times) tedious day!

Mark

[IanTParticipant @iant]

Just a few more Arduino thoughts for anyone in the slightest bit interested…

I brought an Arduino Uno a year or so ago and amused myself making the LED blink on and off for a while. I think the real advantage is that all you need to "play" with it is a PC (laptop in my case) and a USB lead. It connects to (and is powered by) the PC and it is pretty simple to programme. It has quite a useful set of library functions that can be simply recycled into your own sketches (programmes). In essence this is a small embedded system designed to be hooked up to the real world – be that an analogue or a digital one (or both).

The Uno I have is pretty basic in terms of memory size & compute power but only cost about £20 and it was useable straight out of the box. If I wanted to use these devices for my own 'embedded' applications – then it is possible to buy just the Atmel 'chip' and download the Arduino software into it. MERG published a simple way to (using a Uno) programme the Atmel chips last year. An embedded 'Arduino' chip would cost about £3 a time on this basis. In my view this is a better solution (than a PIC for instance) for many potential users, especially for one or two-off type projects.

I also happen to have a PIC32 (Starter kit II) and this is a very powerful micro-system with lots of memory, I/O and capable of some very serious processing power. As the PIC32 is also available in an Arduino compatible package it means that I can upgrade to a more powerful Arduino based system should I need to do so. In other words there are upgrade paths already available.

So what use is all this technology?

Well (for instance) it's actually not that easy to connect a PC or Laptop to the real world and there are all sorts of USB to Serial and USB to parallel port boards available to help do it. It occurred to me quite recently to dig out the Uno and try to talk to it using my PC (Forth) based system. I was delighted to find that it was pretty simple get the Uno to talk to my PC system via just the USB link (Of course other languages could be used – C, Basic, Processing etc but I used Win32Forth).

I've not had time to explore this further as yet but (in principle) I can connect my laptop very simply to the real world via the (tethered) Uno – with all it's I/O capability available to me. I could therefore do most of the 'compute' work on the PC (with all its storage, graphics and connectivity wi-fi etc) and connect to other "things" via the Uno. It's a just a serial link but as I intend to pass high level commands between the two devices I don't think this will be a problem.

In summary, the Arduino will be acting as a very simple interface between my laptop and anything else I want to connect to and control. Eventually I hope to have a general interface programme running in the Arduino and run different 'control' programmes from my laptop for different devices/applications.

A kind of universal (PC based) controller just using an Arduino.

However (back to reality) – I've a few other things to work on (and finish!!) before I get too involved in anything else right now but I think this idea is interesting and I hope it will encourage others to explore the possibilities.

Regards,

IanT

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Very interesting post, Ian

• (in principle) I can connect my laptop very simply to the real world via the (tethered) Uno – with all it's I/O capability available to me.

… I think you are on to a winner, there.

MichaelG.

[Mark CParticipant @markc]

Andrew,

It was not meant as a definition, just an expansion of the term FFT. As I was typing it occurred to me to mention graphic equaliser (or even colour organ) as these are a very common example of their use and would make a simple conceptual link between the letters "FFT" and a real world use, this was why I added that a search on the web would provide much more information. As it happened, I had been busy working on my own problem that requires me to get the magnitude of a particular part of a complicated voltage waveform and hence the response I typed!

Mark

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

fancy

Basic AND PLC (LADDER PROGRAMMING).. in the same device? at the sametime

look at comsol

uk dealer audon electronics

for instance the ct1820…with incuded lcd display and touch screen..

for give terseness this retyped afted this xxxxxx editor ditched it

edited to remove in temperate language

..

Edited By jason udall on 25/10/2014 21:47:35

[ronan walshParticipant @ronanwalsh98054]

I used to be big into basic electronics as a kid, making crystal radio sets, swl'ing, making little projects etc. Somehow i drifted away from all that, and now that i want to return i find the computer revolution has transformed that particular passtime, much as cnc has changed machining i suppose. The last dalliance i have had with the world of electronics was when i returned to college as a mature student and part of the course was plc's and their interaction with pneumatic circuits etc.

So i might just buy an arduino to have a mess about with and see what i can get it to do.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Ronan,

Continuing the jargon theme …

Have a look at this page, and you will see that even the Reset Button might not behave quite as you expect.

Also note that [although not prominently documented] the "Blink" Sketch seems to be loaded on the Uno by default [which makes the "Getting Started" activity a bit difficult, because you don't really seem to have done anything!] 

However … aside from a few irritating typo's in the body text … this is a very helpful page, because it actually describes how the Orange LED on the Board is controlled.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 25/10/2014 22:56:17

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 25/10/2014 22:58:15

[Mark CParticipant @markc]

Michael,

That is an interesting note regarding the factory programmed "blink" sketch. It is also the case for the mega 2560 or the ones that RS are supplying.

Mark

[IanTParticipant @iant]

Hi Michael,

Yes, I think the concept of an intelligent controller is an interesting one and there could be many applications of it's use to the ME community..

I've not ventured into CNC (thus far) but I believe that connecting 'newer' PCs (that only have USB connections) has caused problems in the past for some CNC users – as the Parallel Port has been phased out.

I understand that devices such as the 'Smoothstepper' have been developed to sit between the PC and the stepper motor drivers via a USB connection. I think with sufficient compute power, an intelligent controller could function as a 'smooth stepper' and then be redeployed for any other uses (as required) at the click of a mouse button. Unfortunately, I don't have the skills (or time) to do this myself, my efforts will be a lot more modest I'm afraid

By the way, my Uno came with the 'blink' sketch already installed (it's the "Hallo World" programme of the Arduino movement). So my first attempt at tinkering was to alter the 'blink' sketch very slightly – to change the blink rate – and then download my 'new' programme.

One other thing I might mention, is that most 'sketches' seen on the web can be simply copied (as a text file) and pasted into the Arduino editor on your PC. This may seem pretty normal to (younger?) readers but for me it was a revelation. I remember (all too well) typing Basic and Assembler listings from the popular 'Micro' magazines into my Z-80 system (Nascom II). Being a two-fingered typist – this used to take forever….

Regards,

IanT

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Starting out with the arduino can be fiddly..

For one the first gotcha is that the folder and the sketch have to have the same name..
Easily solved..use ” Save As”..and the audrino programme ( pc end) will do the nessacary..
The above is only a problem if like me you are used to having to do this stuff for yourself

The other relates to the similarities between ( and { ..
I remember where I left them on the keyboard but some times can’t see the difference on screen…

As you go on.. libraries are great but ..to me.. handled in the editor confusingly. .might be just me..

Anyway to any newcomer. .get an audrino ( mega or nano or which ever)..and have a play…
It will be worth the cost and certainly worth your time..( your milage may vary. . )

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

If using the nano..
There is a wonderful “breakout board ” that provides copies of power pins and labeled I/O pins for ease of use..
Similarly there is an excellent “starter kit”
.breadboard ,audrino, few electronic components. .for I have seen 30 quid on amozon..other retailers are available..for those who don’t already have this stuff..
For more serious application. .think of the audrino MEGA with a RAMPS board.. ( ramp = reprap audrino something polou shield)..it can take stepper driver sub boards ( the polou) up to five ( well six since two motors can share the same channel)..three heater controls with thermistor sensors..
Six limit switches. .
And thats just for starters. .this pair form the guts of many 3d printers.along with the MARLIN sketch..
..
So yeah the audrino has uses…

Edited By jason udall on 26/10/2014 10:16:40

[clogsParticipant @clogs]

HI guy's …..vely interesting , with a German accent….

I just love this forum……

for a nut's and bolts kinda guy I think I need to go back to SKOOOL…..

where do u learn this stuff…? ..must read up……am I the only one…?

for somebody who has just mastered attachments all this is mind blowing…..

good luck and thanks for the interesting post…..

Frank in France

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

At a quick look, no-one seems to have answered the question 'is an Arduino like a PLC'?

No, it's a breakout board for an AVR microcontroller, and a microcontroller is basically a computer processor with many of its peripherals combined into a single chips.

Broadly speaking a PLC will take a lot of inputs and react to these with defined outputs.

A microcontroller can do this, but is more flexible, instead of programming it in an I/O focused way, it has programs written in machine code (or a compiled high level language like C, BASIC etc.) so it can deal with a much wider range of situations in more flexible ways.

Neil

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Frank..
For me electronics is my”trade”..
The mechanical side is less so..having to make the control systems of cnc lathes mills work I have had to pick up some of that side along the way…
That said there is something seductive about turning and doubly so about making tools to make other things..

For now maybe think of audrino as electronic leggo or possibly more correctly meccano…..
At the very least you can try an idea out quickly to see if you want to do it that way. ….

Not knocking meccano in any way ..just that one wouldn’t be as proud of the coil winder made in meccano as the one made with hand cut gears….even if the coils turn out the same…
.. ( well I might be more proud of having my coils finished before the plate for the gears even arrived..if you get what I mean)

Edited By jason udall on 26/10/2014 11:09:01

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Like Frank I am reading all this, but find I am understanding less, just realised that "sketch" now has a new meaning. Is it possible to say just what an Arduino is ? For eg. what would I get if I bought one ? I realise there are different types (and spellings ) but just what is it ? A PC board wuth a few electronic bits ? or a bit more? This is a serious question from an old thicko.

[GoCreateParticipant @gocreate]

Aduino uses: –

Could an Arduno board be used to synchronise a mill spindle (with encoder) with a stepper driven rotary table/head to allow gear hobbling on the milling machine? I have the CES hobbing machine castings under, maybe here is an opportunity to enhance the machine and eliminate all those gear trains needed?

Convert a hand operated surface grinder to automatic operation using stepper motors, the idea being you can input the X traverse and feed rate + y traverse, feed rate and step over per pass. Maybe OTT for this type of board?

I have no electronics experience but I have had a play with an arduino Uno and found it quit fascinating. I used one for a work project cycling hydraulic cylinders under test. I arranged it so that you input the advance and retract times and the no of cycles required, The arduno interfaces the pump control box via a relay board, it starts the pump, operates the advance/retract solenoid valve for the required no cycles then stops the pump. Via a pressure switch, if the pressure does not increase (probably due to a hose/seal failure) after a few seconds it stops the test. It also monitors the pump temperature and stops the test it exceeds 50degC.+ a few flashing LED's to add interest This was a very good learning exercise and has worked well for the last 6 months.

Nigel

[Anonymous]

Posted by Mark C on 25/10/2014 18:51:16:

Andrew,

It was not meant as a definition, just an expansion of the term FFT. As I was typing it occurred to me to mention graphic equaliser (or even colour organ) as these are a very common example of their use and would make a simple conceptual link between the letters "FFT" and a real world use, this was why I added that a search on the web would provide much more information. As it happened, I had been busy working on my own problem that requires me to get the magnitude of a particular part of a complicated voltage waveform and hence the response I typed!

Mark

Sorry, it wasn't intended to be a criticism, merely to point out that the FFT is an algorithm not a technique, and to give a simple summary of where it fits within signal processing. There's probably no point in discussing the more involved Fourier Transform concepts, and other methods of computing the DFT.

In future I'll stay out of the electronics based threads on this forum.

Andrew

[GoCreateParticipant @gocreate]

I found these 2 books very good for a complete beginner. I would recommend Getting Started with Sketches as a first buy. These combined with an Arduino starter kit got me going.

Getting started with sketches

Adruino workshop

Nigel

[IanTParticipant @iant]

I think there are probably quite a few things that an Arduino could be used for Nigel.

Much machining these days can be carried out using existing CNC software (on both the lathe and mill) but I think there are quite a few 'mechanical' applications where something more "application specific" would be easier to implement or the only alternative available to a purely 'mechanical' linkage. Your example above is a bit different to what I had in mind but is still a very good illustration of the automation potential of these devices.

One of the applications I might try when I get the time – is to shape gears on my shaper. There is a well known method that involves a mechanical linkage (wire and cylinder) to the table that turns the blank as the ram moves over the table. Some form of rotary holding device, driven by a stepper motor would have a few uses in my workshop and from there it might be possible to (electronically) synch the work to the shapers table. It's just a thought – and the 'wire' may prove to be a much simpler solution!

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Audrino. .refees to a circuit board..of “open source” design..
Design in controlled and documented and different suppiers meet this design
The micro controller is an amtel( brand ) device.
The” nano” also has onboard..a usb receive/transmission chip and a 5V voltage regulator.
The latter allows running the board from 5V dc in up to 20V dc.
Thus you get a micro controller..with about 30 thousand bytes of storage ( for programme and typically a “heavy programme” like MARLIN for 3D printers takes about 10 thousand bytes)

Also on board
.four leds…one for power.two showing whats happening on the serial port ( sort of)
And one connected to pin 13..

The one on 13 is a test light..so when you get your audrino and power it up..the preprogrammed “blink” programme runs and flashes this light…
Bit dull huh?..
Now connect this marvel to your pc ( or mac) run the audrino software and send you board new instructions..the programme for reasons I haven’t bothered togind out is called a sketch..but is in fact a C++ computer programme..don’t get hung up on that. .load up the example “blink”..
Look this is what the circuit is doing when it flashes that light…
Change that instuction ..”delay (1000) ; ” to say
“delay(500) ;”..don’t forget that ;
Upload this to you board…….look.the led flashes faster….

Seriously you now have the beginnings of a electronic circuit that can look at switches and analogue voltages ( 5 mV to 5V) make some decisions based on that and wiggle pins ( supply or sink 40 mA at 5V) based on those decisions.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Oh and Andrew..Please don’t stay away..
Frankly I haven’t had to deal with fft etc for years and probably won’t again..but didn’t take any offence at your explanation.

Generaly when I see a term I don’t recognise ..I look it up. .or ask..then make an assessment as to whether I need to know more..

[Mark CParticipant @markc]

Andrew,

I agree with Jason's sentiments above. Working in R&D requires a thick skin and generally the only reaction you get from me is a reasoned argument/response or a request for more information if it is something I am interested in. In the case of the FFT, the problem I was having was how to extract information and also condition it for use in a control loop (I have a grasp of the basics but this is not a standard implementation) and the solution was to give it to a mate who does very complex analysis for a living and buy him beer, which is good 'cos I will probably have to do the social thing and drink it with him!

In context with the Arduino, anyone getting involved in programming (sketching?) micro controllers would find the information about the FFT interesting (and probably usefully) but it would certainly take them off at a tangent…. certainly, as soon as you start using analogue inputs in projects there will exist a possible requirement to clean up signals and identify particular parts of a noisy signal and the FFT is generally the tool choice unless you are using hardware filters etc.

Mark

[IanTParticipant @iant]

Hi Jason,

As I mentioned earlier, the technology keeps moving along and you certainly don't need to be limited to 30Kb memories with your Ardunio either.

Have a look at this link from Microchip (from 2011):

**LINK**

The Max32 Ardunio has 512Kb flash storage and 128kb of RAM.- all on chip.

It's also probably an order of magnitude faster than the Amtel chip in my Uno (assuming the PIC can pipeline effectively). I must admit I haven't really been watching this area too much lately – but I did notice recently that there was an Ardunio (PIC32 based) I/O board available to hook up to the 'Pi' for instance. The Pi acts as the "PC" in this case, hosting the Arduino development software. The PIC32 gives the Pi an impressive extra I/O capability.

**LINK**

More possibilities.

Regards,

IanT

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Thanks Ian

Slightly missed my point..I was trying to say that even an envolved programme like MARLIN fits into that tiny 32k space…..
For bavkground I cut my micro controller teeth on pic 16c54.. devices in products… working with average current consumption of 50uA…for whole board….
Think 500 mAhr per year…..
But again thanks

.

[Author]

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