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Sometimes you want an operation to repeat periodically. Say you are building a parts washer that circulates cleaning fluid around the dirty parts. The cleaning cycle might run for an hour and in that time you want the circulation pump to run for 10 seconds, stop for 5 seconds for particles to settle, then run for 10 seconds and repeat for an hour.

We need a timer. The type of timer that does this is called a Cycle Timer because it repeats a specific timing cycle and it’s pretty easy to build a cycle timer with an Arduino and a little bit of software programming. We’ll need an Arduino (any kind, from any manufacturer will work), a power supply, the power driver circuit, and the “load” which in this case is our pump.

Let’s get started.

// Which pin to use to control the load const int OUTPUT_PIN = 1; 
// Total number of cycles 
const int NUMBER_OF_CYCLES = 10; 
// On time per cycle in milliseconds 
const int CYCLE_TIME_ON = 5000; 
// Off time per cycle in milliseconds 
const int CYCLE_TIME_OFF = 2000; 

void setup() 
{
 pinMode(OUTPUT_PIN, OUTPUT);
 digitalWrite(OUTPUT_PIN, LOW);
} 

// Run the timer 
void loop() 
{
 int cycles = NUMBER_OF_CYCLES;
 while(cycles-- > 0)
 {
    // Turned timed output on
   digitalWrite(OUTPUT_PIN, HIGH);
   delay(CYCLE_TIME_ON);
   // Turn timed output off
   digitalWrite(OUTPUT_PIN, LOW);
   delay(CYCLE_TIME_OFF);
 }
 // Hold forever
 while(1);
}

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A very common task is to measure temperature at various points. In fact, temperature is the most commonly measured and controlled variable in Process Control. The BeagleBone single-board computer is becoming more popular because of its low cost and sophisticated capabilities. It’s one of the easiest ways to serve up a web page that allows the operator to monitor data and control devices.

Temperature can be measured with a variety of sensors. Here we are concerned with the range of liquids from around 0C to 80C. A straightforward way to measure temperatures in this range is with a semiconductor analog-output sensor. They are easy to use, accurate, and low cost.

I happened to have a number of AD592 temperature to current sensors on hand. These have been traditionally used for process control because their current output makes them very noise resistant when long cable are used. We convert the current (1 microvolt/Kelvin) to a voltage by using a resistor. In this case, we use a 3.3kohm resistor to produce a voltage of around 1V at room temperature. The 3.3k resistor gives a resolution of .003V/Kelvin which with the 273.15K offset gives 0.003V/degree Celsius.

Using the sensor connected to 5V, AGND and the analog input on P9, pin 36, we use this code snippet to read the sensor:

// Read an AD592 temp sensor and return degF
function readTemp()
{
   var volts = 1.8 * trap.analogRead("P9_36");
   // Convert to Kelvin. AD592 outputs 1uV/K
   var k = volts / 3300 / 0.000001;
   // Convert to Fahrenheit
   var f= (k - 273.15) * 9 / 5 + 32;
   // Log the measured values
   console.log("V,k,F: " + volts,k,f);
   return f;
}

For improved accuracy we can measure the actual resistance of the 3.3k resistor and use that measured value in the program.

This concept is easily extended to remote reading. Since the BeagleBone is a powerful little Linux computer, it can be used to serve web pages. We have a simple node.js webserver and sensor data reader program available at this download link

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Why do we use RS232 serial ports to communicate with our hardware? Well, first and foremost, it is probably the least-common-denominator communication method in the industrial and embedded physical computing arena. If a computer has just one port, odds are it’s a serial port. This is mainly because serial ports are so easy to implement.

Those computers that don’t have RS232 serial ports, will usually have USB (another serial bus) ports. Because of the decades-long history of RS232, USB to RS232 ports are easy to find. Nothing wrong with USB, but it has more complexity and is limited to fairly short distances.

So, in a nutshell, RS232 serial ports are easy to work with, ubiquitous and reliable.

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Flowmeters are used to measure liquid flow. However, if you only need a notification that flow is present or not and don’t need to know the quantity of liquid, there are simpler methods.

A flow switch is an on/off device that will indicate whether or not a liquid is moving. They can be either Normally Open (NO), meaning that the switch is not conducting when there is no flow, or Normally Closed (NC) meaning that the switch is conducting when there is no flow. Having both types available offers flexibility to a design. One of the nice things about a flow switch is that is is very simple to build a visual indicator of whether the liquid is flowing or not. By using a light (bulb or LED) or a buzzer and a flow switch you can build a simple low flow alarm.

They are available in various pressure ratings that set the threshold of flow/no flow.

Flow switches generally present less resistance to flow than a flow meter, so there is less pressure loss across the switch.

As with flowmeters, our PRT232 is an easy way to read a flow switch and get an indication of fluid flow into your PC via an RS232 serial connection.

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The post on how to (light an LED from an RS232 serial port) got more interest than I expected. There is an old design that I played around with a couple years ago for a high-power RS232 serial port LED light that I am thinking of resurrecting. It’s so bright, it hurts to look directly into it! A USB version might also be nice, but RS232 has a great advantage in distance and most of the people we talk with need something more rugged than USB. You can run serial lines to the LED controller for over 100 feet under good conditions. The only thing that really competes with that is wireless or Ethernet.

Note to self: Ethernet LED controller? Hmmm.

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As long as we’re on a serial port kick. Here’s an easy way to read an external pushbutton or switch from your PC. Remember, that with an expensive USB to serial converter, if your computer doesn’t have an RS232 port, you can read the pushbutton switch from USB just as easily.

This is a great way to interface an external switch to your software and makes applications such as a photobooth, Lean Manufacturing cycle counter, or labwork much easier.

Like the .NET lightmeter post below, we’ll use a status control input on the RS232 port to see the switch.

OK, you’ll need a pushbutton (of course), a resistor to hold the input line in the correct state when the pushbutton is off, a small capacitor for debouncing and a female D-sub 9 connector. And perhaps some kind of enclosure or box for the pushbutton switch if you don’t plan to mount it to an existing panel.

Here’s the schematic diagram:

.NET source code to read the switch and display the state is over

here

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