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Sensing mechanism in the basic stamp. — Parallax Forums

Sensing mechanism in the basic stamp.

cedtinsicedtinsi Posts: 45
edited 2011-02-10 16:03 in Accessories
Dear engineer, or anyone who is interrested to share knowledge about the title: SENSING MECHANISM IN THE BASIC STAMP.
First, thank you for taking my post into consideration.
I am a college student, very curious about getting to know how the Basic Stamp works to perform that amazing display of artificial intelligence.
I read 18% of the manual " What is a microcontroller?" and arriving at the 66th page, I wondered how the Basic Stamp senses the state of a circuit and attributes the digits either 0 or 1, depending on whether a particular path is either opened or closed.
dow bellow is an extract from the manual.
Binary and Circuits: The base-2 number system uses only the digits 1 and 0 to make
numbers, and these binary values can be transmitted from one device to another. The
BASIC Stamp interprets Vdd (5 V) as binary-1 and Vss (0 V) as binary-0. Likewise, when
the BASIC Stamp sets an I/O pin to Vdd using HIGH, it sends a binary-1. When it sets an
I/O pin to Vss using LOW, it sends a binary-0. This is a very common way of communicating
binary numbers used by many computer chips and other devices

how does the Basic Stamp manage to intepret a voltage as a binary digit ?
how does it sense a particular state and attribute to that state a binary digit?
how does it work?

now concerning the program the program that is written and downloaded to the Basic Stamp:
how does the Basic Stamp interpret the 0s and 1s, that it receives as instructions from the program, and either closes or opens a particular path in a circuit?
before that, how does the Basic Stamp manage to recognize that this is a 0 and this is a 1?
how does the Basic Stamp "senses" a 0 and "senses" a 1?
0s and 1s are just abstract right, numbers invented by humans right, so how does the Basic Stamp do that?
I can imagine that it is a really complex wirring in there but please explain to me.
if you have the detailed and complex map with explanations of how it really works inside there, please post it, i want to know.
please allow me to extend the little that i know into an immense river of knowlegde so I may contribute to the daily innovations that are happening right now.
i do mean it.
please help me to grasp the premices of those machines that perform mind-opening tasks.
thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2011-02-10 14:02
    As a college student, you should understand how it's much more important to learn how to find information that you might need rather than have others give it to you without much effort. This also sounds somewhat like a class project where this is really a requirement.

    The Stamp is a microcontroller and it, like most modern microcontrollers, is made with CMOS logic. There are excellent articles in the Wikipedia on how this logic works. Do a Google search for "wikipedia cmos logic" and that will get you started. Be sure to follow the external links looking for other information. Note that the Wikipedia has been translated into many languages. Anyway, the type of logic and how it is constructed determines the voltages that are used to represent a zero or a one. Look at the datasheet for any CMOS device and you'll see the voltage thresholds that the device uses and the voltage levels produced by the device to show a one or a zero on the output.
  • cedtinsicedtinsi Posts: 45
    edited 2011-02-10 16:03
    Thank you Sir.
    I'll keep searching.
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