Time/Alarm Trigger Help Needed...
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Posts: 46,084
Hello Everyone!
I'm new to Stamps and microcontrollers, and I haven't learned all the
tricks yet. So maybe someone can help me with this one.
I'm needing to make a circuit (with a BS2) where a user can set several
times to trigger a motor to run for a duration. I know I need an RTC,
but how to use it is my delima. My original thought was to poll a
DS1302 continuously until the set times were encountered. But when
looking at other RTCs, I noticed some had alarm features (like the
DS1306).
Should I be using the alarm instead of polling the clock? If so, how?
Are there any better ways of accomplishing this?
TIA,
Steven Ulbig
sulbig@t...
I'm new to Stamps and microcontrollers, and I haven't learned all the
tricks yet. So maybe someone can help me with this one.
I'm needing to make a circuit (with a BS2) where a user can set several
times to trigger a motor to run for a duration. I know I need an RTC,
but how to use it is my delima. My original thought was to poll a
DS1302 continuously until the set times were encountered. But when
looking at other RTCs, I noticed some had alarm features (like the
DS1306).
Should I be using the alarm instead of polling the clock? If so, how?
Are there any better ways of accomplishing this?
TIA,
Steven Ulbig
sulbig@t...
Comments
last time -- and I know how sometimes a post can go unseen [noparse]:)[/noparse]
I'm new to Stamps and microcontrollers, and I haven't learned all the
tricks yet. So maybe someone can help me with this one.
I'm needing to make a circuit (with a BS2) where a user can set several
times to trigger a motor to run for a duration. I know I need an RTC,
but how to use it is my delima. My original thought was to poll a
DS1302 continuously until the set times were encountered. But when
looking at other RTCs, I noticed some had alarm features (like the
DS1306).
Should I be using the alarm instead of polling the clock? If so, how?
Are there any better ways of accomplishing this?
TIA,
Steven Ulbig
sulbig@t...
I'd like to help but your description is not enough for me..
Please < in plain english> explain what you want to be able to do..
also do you have cost restarints and if so what are they.. is this for a
commercial product
etc.
The more info you give at the beginning the less likely the STAMP list people
will go off
at tangents that don't help you.. ( they probably help someone else !! [noparse]:)[/noparse]))
Date sent: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 12:07:04 -0800
From: "Steven Ulbig" <sulbig@t...>
To: basicstamps@eGroups.com
Send reply to: basicstamps@eGroups.com
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Time/Alarm Trigger Help Needed...
> Hello Everyone! I'm posting this again, cause I recieved no responses
> last time -- and I know how sometimes a post can go unseen [noparse]:)[/noparse]
>
> I'm new to Stamps and microcontrollers, and I haven't learned all the
> tricks yet. So maybe someone can help me with this one.
>
> I'm needing to make a circuit (with a BS2) where a user can set several
> times to trigger a motor to run for a duration. I know I need an RTC,
> but how to use it is my delima. My original thought was to poll a
> DS1302 continuously until the set times were encountered. But when
> looking at other RTCs, I noticed some had alarm features (like the
> DS1306).
>
> Should I be using the alarm instead of polling the clock? If so, how?
> Are there any better ways of accomplishing this?
>
>
> TIA,
>
> Steven Ulbig
> sulbig@t...
>
>
>
> -- 20 megs of disk space in your group's Document Vault
> -- http://www.egroups.com/docvault/basicstamps/?m=1
>
>
ron... the motor man...
Ronald Doctors
http://www.members.home.net/rdoctors
> times to trigger a motor to run for a duration. I know I need an RTC,
> but how to use it is my delima. My original thought was to poll a
> DS1302 continuously until the set times were encountered. But when
> looking at other RTCs, I noticed some had alarm features (like the
> DS1306).
>
> Should I be using the alarm instead of polling the clock? If so, how?
> Are there any better ways of accomplishing this?
>
>
snip
since the bs2 has no interrupts you are stuck with the polling feature
you either poll the rtc constantly, or you poll the alarm trigger out of the
rtc.
either way is about the same, id prefer to poll the alarm out line
personaly.
norm
> since the bs2 has no interrupts you are stuck with the polling
> feature you either poll the rtc constantly, or you poll the alarm
> trigger out of the rtc.
>
> either way is about the same, id prefer to poll the alarm out line
> personaly.
Well...you could feed the alarm output to the Stamp's RESET pin,
then have the Stamp interrogate the RTC upon startup to see if it's
time to do anything. That would allow you to keep the Stamp in low
power mode most of the time. 'Course, your RTC alarm would have to
be a pulse output (vice level) or the Stamp would never come out of
reset.
Gotta agree with Norm, though, that checking one output level (the
alarm) has got to be simpler than checking the RTC time of day.
Like so many things, the best approach depends on the situation.
Simplicity, power conservation, other requirements for your Stamp
between alarm triggers, etc. would matter a lot.
Steve