The goal was to make a compass sensor compatible with the RCX and have it only take one sensor input port to take a compass reading. We decided to use a Dinsmore analog compass part that has two outputs that need to be combined to determine the direction the compass is pointing. With our design, it takes two readings by the RCX to get one complete
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reading from the compass sensor. Software then must combine those readings together to determine the angle the compass is pointing. We had to do it this way because of power demands by the Dinsmore part and power limitations of the RCX. We wanted to add hardware around the Dinsmore sensor to combine the two outputs into one RCX input. We first tried to put all the "inside/outside crossings" logic into hardware, but we found out the hard way that the RCX can only provide about 10mA of current. It turns out we can only power 1/2 the Dinsmore compass sensor at a time. Rick Sammartino (RickSam from the Mindstorms website) who has been helping me all along, had and idea of reading one curve then the other. This fit well with powering one compass sensor then the other. The Dinsmore compass sensor has two outputs that need to be combined to know the direction you are pointing. Figure 1 shows the compass outputs as they look across a 360 degree turn. It took me a while to make sense of the compass sensor outputs. To determine the outputs` values when pointed a particular direction, draw a verticle line at the angle you want the compass to point. The vertical line intersects with the two output curves only once per vertical line. These intersections are the two output values you can expect when the compass is pointing in that direction. As you rotate the compass, you are basically sliding your vertical line left or right on the...
This project fits more for custom made battery casing that can have more space to hide things inside. This switch with few alterations can be used for any other project as well but is designed based on e-bike needs! This project use a clever functionality of....
The circuit described here uses ultrasonic oscillations and operates based on the propagation velocity of these oscillations in the air. Thus, we can easily determine the distance of two points if the time within which the wave travels this distance is....
Sometimes the precious metals are hidden too deep and are not detected except with complicated devices. In many cases, however, small pieces of precious metal buried near the surface can be detected by relatively simple means. Everyone is very attractive to....
Many times for various reasons we forget or can not water the plants that we have in our homes. And many humidity sensors units just notify us with a beeping sound or with a flashing light, that the pot needs watering. But what if we are away from home? This....
The principle behind a metal detector is really very simple. Proof of this is the circuit that follows, in which it proves that the construction of a metal detector can be done in the minute, with few components that we find very easily everywhere. With the....
The sub-harmonic bass generator is a sound producing unit for guitars. The sound it produces looks very much like that of the bass guitar. The octave generator is sometimes quite unusual since it does not produce any of the usual ways of coloring the sound,....
In the past the sounding (sea bottom measurement) was done with the "bullet", that is, with a heavy lead object that the seamen plucked into the sea hung from a calibrated rope. As soon as the "bullet" reached the bottom, the depth appeared directly from the....
This Amplifier was designed to have the following specifications: Distortion less than 0.1% at full power of 100W even at 20KHz. Power has to be attributed to an extended bandwidth. The output transistors must be protected against short circuits. The power....
A series of LEDs serve to alert the gardener when plants need water. Using two conventional digital integrated LEDs and a series of LEDs, we make a very useful device for gardening. The device detects the amount of water in the pot and alerts the grower.....
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