Re: Analog to Digital converters/controllers?

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Sure. You see our contact info at www.edasce.com. Let us know if we can
help...

Paul T.

"JohnKoz" <JohnKoz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:778387B0-EFF1-46BF-A47B-F8D4919DF010@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks again Paul.

I'm not worried about the actuator, it's going to degenerate to a relay
scenario because it's just going to go from one stop to the other with
limit
switches, similar to a garage door opener.
Ironically Ethernet is very appealing to me as I could communicate to it
from CE or my Vista / Windows7 workstation. I originally thought I'd have
to
build something custom with a CE box to interface it to Ethernet, but if
there are devices already made that do DAC/digitization as a network
appliance that satisfies one need of mine (still won't stop me from
getting a
spark kit and playing with CE).
To answer your other question, yes it's more of a hobbyist scenario, but I
intend on finishing something function and permanent for the home. I don't
want to throw money away, but I'm not looking at money to be a gating
factor.

I'll check out these companies and see where I can go from there, thanks
again for your input this was helpful.

-John

"Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" wrote:

OK. Based on the specs of that device, I'd use Ethernet, not USB, for
communications with the I/O, generally. As mentioned, you can probably
find
some RS232-based controllers, if you prefer, but then you'll have to come
up
with USB-to-serial adapters in order to get RS232 ports, etc. I don't
think
it's worth that (if you had actual serial ports built-in, that would be a
good choice). If you just use Ethernet-based I/O, all you need is a hub
and
a couple of cables (and, of course, the API for controlling your I/O).
RS232-based I/O is likely to be cheaper per-channel, so, if it's a hobby
project, you might want to do that anyway, but for a real application, I
wouldn't. As mentioned, if you use USB-based I/O, you're going to need
CE
drivers for those devices and I don't know of anyone who makes such
things
for their USB devices.

What's the critical parameter of all this? Price? You're probably best
with RS232 and devices that have individual channels that match exactly
what
you need, in that case, although you'll have to see what you can do about
your linear actuator, if anything (you didn't say how you were going to
use
that, so it's hard to say, yes, you need X or Y or Z). If you want
expandability or single-device implementation of all of the functions, a
PLC
or something like our EDAS CE can do it, at higher cost, with a lot of
extra
capability (you can't buy 1 channel of analog input from us, so, if you
need
1, you get 16; whether that's good or not depends on your application).

The biggest player in test/measurement is National Instruments. They're
fairly predatory and I hate to point you to them, but they are there.
Dataq, as mentioned, is a good company. IOTech is another. One that I
hadn't heard of until doing a Google search on "rs232 data acquisition
analog" was SuperLogics. They have things that would work for you. Take
care when buying "relay output" devices, however, unless you're just
going
to use them to drive your own AC relays. Relays typically used in "relay
output" devices wear out quickly when controlling AC, rather than DC.

Paul T.

"JohnKoz" <JohnKoz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1312A077-88A0-4BA0-A2C5-970CA00A4852@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks Paul,

I see where you're coming from, let me try to restate what I'm looking
for.
I'd like to locate devices that allow me to interact with the
'environment'
from my WinCE device (assume VIA ARTiGO).
Such a device would plug in via USB, RS232 or any other convenient
interface. It would enable me to programmatically:
. Measure a thermocouple or other temperature-sensing device.
. Energize a relay - The relays I would drive are 24VAC, but I don't
have
to
drive them directly, i can drive a 5vdc relay so don't worry too much
about
the voltage amount or type.
. Detect if a relay is energized

I'm looking for shipping products that can do this. I'm not sure
how/where
I
should look for them. Are they DAC's, or digitizers, or something else.

Do you have any links to vendors, dealers or devices?

Thanks

-John

"Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" wrote:

I'd like to be able to measure and control external devices. For
example:
. Measure temperature of a room

No problem. You generally will do this with a thermocouple, although
there
are other temperature-sensing devices that are more-linear for
applications
which don't have to deal with very high or very low temperatures. Is
there
already a sensor in the room that you want to read or do you want to
implement one?

. Detect if a 24vAC relay is energized

This is a relay that you aren't controlling? I mean, if you control
the
relay, you'd know, right? Otherwise, you'd need a 24 VAC input, which
is
kind of strange range. We have devices that can do it, but for one
relay,
it's expensive.

. Control 24vAC relays

What is the control voltage? Most PC-based (plug-in board), control
boards
will have 0-5VDC outputs, which might not drive enough current to
control
your relays. You need to know the specs for those relays when you're
looking for hardware to control them. Generally, though, no problem.

. Control a linear actuator

This is a little big vague. You have the actuator? What control
signals
does it use?

There are many companies who do this sort of thing. We aren't huge in
linear actuators, although we do have quadrature inputs for reading
position
from such things, step #1 in controlling them. We can do the other
things
with several different types of devices from plug-in boards for PCs,
to
Ethernet-connected systems running RTOS, to programmable Windows
CE-based,
Ethernet-connected devices which are modular. Take a look at
www.edasce.com
and www.instrument.com, if you're interested.

If you want a magazine for this sort of device to see who's big in the
market, look and Test and Measurement World. I think you can find it
at
your magazine shop. There will be ads in there from many folks who do
that
sort of thing with various interfaces.

Generally, if you're planning to build your own Windows CE-based
device,
you
DO NOT want to interface to your measurement/control equipment with
USB.
You need USB drivers for any equipment that you want to talk with and
almost
no one has Windows CE drivers for their USB devices.

RS-232 is no problem, of course, as you're basically writing your own
code
to control things anyway. Our devices have APIs for doing operations
like
reading all the analog input channels on a given device or writing all
of
the digital output channels, or pulsing a digital channel for a period
of
time. The other guys who do this have similar methods that vary
depending
on the various hardware architectures. Some offer high-level
programming
environments for writing your 'program' graphically, as well as C/C++,
etc.
Others may have application environments that automatically acquire
data
and
store it on disk or something.

Paul T.

"JohnKoz" <JohnKoz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:45FB0C1A-C8C5-4341-BAC1-ED4348444925@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi,

I'd like to be able to measure and control external devices. For
example:
. Measure temperature of a room
. Detect if a 24vAC relay is energized
. Control 24vAC relays
. Control a linear actuator

I'm assuming such devices communicate with standard USB or RS232
interfaces,
I'm open to either, perhaps even Ethernet. Ultimately I'd connect
this
to
a
CE embedded device, but I could also use it on my development
workstation
for
initial experimentation.

I don't know anything about the companies or individual products in
this
area. Do you have some suggestions that could get me started?

Thanks

-John









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