Talking to external hardware
Talking to external hardware
- Subject: Talking to external hardware
- From: Sun Real <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 13:49:49 +1000
Greetings,
I need to control the operation of some relays for a small scale power
distribution system & I want to do the programming, err, I mean
scripting, with AS if I can.
There is a power source - a micro-hydro turbine - and 8 circuits to be
supplied from it. The output from the turbine varies over a large range
(50-1500W) as do the loads, which can be anywhere from nothing to more
than the total output.
My task is to distribute this power - connect and disconnect the supply
to each house - according to certain rules. (In case anyone's wondering,
the houses each have their own battery bank. They don't lose power,
their battery chargers switch off until it's their turn again.)
I will receive magnitude information (a continuously varying voltage,
analogous to the power being used) from current sensors and, depending on
this & the program logic, send on/off commands to some of the outputs
(the relays).
My limited study of the X-10 system indicates that I could probably get
it to do some of what I want but the switch modules are prohibitively
expensive in Australia & it doesn't look quite right for this.
I figure I could use the 'Serial Port Commands' osax to get data to &
from my script & guess I can build a box to interface between this and
the relays if necessary, but I'm also wondering if anyone has any bright
ideas of any kind.
For example, does anyone know of any ready made chips or modules I can
buy that do standard interface stuff for/with serial data, like taking a
varying voltage input and converting it to serial data I can handle on
the Mac? If not, where do I start studying so I can build such a thing?
What chips deal with this kind of stuff? Is it a job for a micro?
I also need to try to determine what my minimum Mac hardware spec & AS
version should be. This thing will have to run 24/7 and won't be all
that close by, so the requirements are reliability and reliability.
Any help would be appreciated. I got 'volunteered' for this and am a bit
stuck as to where to start.
Cheers,
Richard Morton
-- Great Lies of the Music Business: "I'm with the band"