[simpits-tech] phidgits + Building Gauges

[Ben Jones]

rod ,
there has been a aussie who is making a 747 sim or something in australia out of a ford car shell,

i cant think of the site at the moment i'll have to look for it, but they used a standard radio controlled servo running of a basic stamp board, with a PI hanging off the shaft to report a zero point , aparently it works well.
 

BEN   JONES 
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bjones@pipecomp.com.au
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-----Original Message-----
From: Rod Dale [mailto:rodd@castle.net.au]
Sent: Saturday, 26 October 2002 11:35 PM
To: simpits-tech@simpits.org
Subject: Re: [simpits-tech] phidgits + Building Gauges


There's a small electronic device called a Photo Interrupter (PI) that could
be used. This consists of an IR LED (Infra Red) on one side and a
photo-transistor on the other. These are used in printers to indicate where
the carriage is. All you need to do is put a small piece of plastic on the
shaft of the stepper motor and each time this plastic piece passes between
the two parts of the PI it cuts the IR to the transistor and signals the
controller (PC, Basic Stamp, Phidgit etc) that the motor has turned one
revolution. If you could set up a counting program then you keep track of
the revolutions and hence the start point and any number of other points
too.
I got hold of a heap of old printers and stripped them of these devices and
the stepper motors - ready for this sort of thing.
Can anyone add to this theory ?
Rod