Originally Posted by teilhardo Hi All,
Its been a while since I have posted here but I have been without a garage for the last 10 months (while in school) and am trying to conclude a relatively simple project that I began a few years ago. Anyways, to finish this project, I need to control 4 pumps, 2 solenoids, 1 SSR , a level sensor, and 3 thermocouples (LM34's). Anyways, my original plan was to use a microcontroller and a large quantity of MOSFETS along with A/D conversion circuits to accomplish this task. But then the design became more and more complex (adding more I/O) while I also decided to make the contraption more user friendly by adding a GUI. I was wondering, for any of the really technically inclined on here how one with my lack of advanced technical skills could somehow control this contraption with a computer. Would JAVA be the best? Maybe use the parallel port? Or could I maybe use a hybrid system that uses a GUI AND a microcontroller? THe microcontrollers i have access to are the basic STAMP2 and the PIC 16FXX (if I remember correctly)
If anyone has any opinions, etc please feel free to contact me. I am in need of some advice at this point.
Thanks a lot for listening,
Tei |
Here is my point of view:
Java is not the way to go unless you are supplied with libraries for hardware interfacing. The exception would be a microcontoller with a built in java that allows direct access to hardware. Java is a virtual machine environment and needs special techniques to access hardware, it is doable but I get the impression you aren't ready for that.
Another issue similar to Java's problem is that modern OS do not allow direct hardware access either. So you will need drivers or the ability to write them. So consider hardware with supported drivers if you wise to build GUI on modern PC OS'es.
Micro controllers are always a possibility but if you haven't spent some time with them there is a learning curve!
For one off things like this it would probably be best to stick with a PC and I/O hardware supported with good drivers. This can be either an I/O card in an expansion slot or a USD device. Shop around a bit!
Dave