2:34 pm on 3.6.10
Amongst my random jobs, I work for a company that makes extremely precise digital microscopes intended to measure machine tools for the aviation industry. I know, it's a face full. Anyway, I work in the image processing algorithms and the general programming of the device. It's actually a lot of fun in a very, very, very nerdy way . You have to really enjoy the Sobel operator and three dimensional matrices. I digress.
On several occasions, we have had some trouble with a US Digital encoder box that converts a signal from some encoders on our machine to serial for the computer to read. We use this info to know where the microscope is in space. Anyhow, the drivers for this box are a POS and frankly the box costs like 10x more than it should. I decided enough was enough.
After a bit of research, I found out that our encoders (and many on the market) use quadrature encoding as a means of describing position, be it lateral or rotational. This is a very well-documented method involving two offset square waves and should be very simple to decode if I just had something to decode it with.
Enter Arduino Duemillanove- that's also a face full- and actually a kind of cool name. Apparently duemillanove means 2009-- a likely story. Continuing onward, the Arduino is a microcontroller that is popular in DIY circles because of its versatility and ease of programming (no shifting bits around on this bad boy). You can see it in the picture above where I made mr. potentiometer control the color of mr. rgb led. It took me like 5 minutes to setup and program- no joke. Back in boring encoder land, I don't even need any additional components, just hook up the 5v, the ground to the power section and connect the two signal lines to a pair of digital inputs. A few lines of code later and I replaced the $700 box with a $30 microcontroller. Oops, I did it again.
Moving forward with the project we are going to try to improve on the original by adding room for more encoders as well as a few features. The first is communication via bluetooth instead of USB. Apparently bluetooth is a serial connection. Who knew? The last little bit is to add a temperature and humidity sensor for calibration purposes. Waiting for all that stuff to come in the mail now. I'll keep posting as the project develops.
On several occasions, we have had some trouble with a US Digital encoder box that converts a signal from some encoders on our machine to serial for the computer to read. We use this info to know where the microscope is in space. Anyhow, the drivers for this box are a POS and frankly the box costs like 10x more than it should. I decided enough was enough.
After a bit of research, I found out that our encoders (and many on the market) use quadrature encoding as a means of describing position, be it lateral or rotational. This is a very well-documented method involving two offset square waves and should be very simple to decode if I just had something to decode it with.
Enter Arduino Duemillanove- that's also a face full- and actually a kind of cool name. Apparently duemillanove means 2009-- a likely story. Continuing onward, the Arduino is a microcontroller that is popular in DIY circles because of its versatility and ease of programming (no shifting bits around on this bad boy). You can see it in the picture above where I made mr. potentiometer control the color of mr. rgb led. It took me like 5 minutes to setup and program- no joke. Back in boring encoder land, I don't even need any additional components, just hook up the 5v, the ground to the power section and connect the two signal lines to a pair of digital inputs. A few lines of code later and I replaced the $700 box with a $30 microcontroller. Oops, I did it again.
Moving forward with the project we are going to try to improve on the original by adding room for more encoders as well as a few features. The first is communication via bluetooth instead of USB. Apparently bluetooth is a serial connection. Who knew? The last little bit is to add a temperature and humidity sensor for calibration purposes. Waiting for all that stuff to come in the mail now. I'll keep posting as the project develops.
Status
Kings of Convenience - I Don't Know What I Can Save You From (Röyksopp Remix)
1:00 am on 2.23.12
Miike Snow - Animal
12:56 am on 2.23.12
2Pac - California Love - Original Version (Explicit)
12:52 am on 2.23.12
John Williams is not good at his job. Seriously. He is a wonderful placater however.
11:37 am on 1.24.12
RT @pitchforkmedia: Flying Lotus Says He's Going to "Present" His New Album at Coachella. (And Coachella Sold Out Already) http://t.co/1 ...
6:56 pm on 1.13.12
RT @effedparkslope: I've officially run out of comforting things to say to people who still have a Blackberry.
6:53 pm on 12.28.11
About
Hailing from Detroit, MI I have a degree in audio engineering from the University of Michigan colleges of engineering and music. I currently reside in Brooklyn, NY with my cat, Miles.
My company, Lotic Media, specializes in multimedia and internet technologies. We focus on digital content creation, editing and delivery and are always interested in new ideas and projects. I am also in an electro-indie-pop band called Light & Sound, find us on iTunes.
My company, Lotic Media, specializes in multimedia and internet technologies. We focus on digital content creation, editing and delivery and are always interested in new ideas and projects. I am also in an electro-indie-pop band called Light & Sound, find us on iTunes.
