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Very easy 1st project : Temperature Controller — Parallax Forums

Very easy 1st project : Temperature Controller

POCOPOCO Posts: 2
edited 2011-05-20 00:45 in BASIC Stamp
Hello,

First post.

I am looking for the best and easiest way for a first project I need to complete.

I need to monitor the temperature and send the result to a notebook PC (USB compulsory as no one sells them with serial now).

Range of Temperature : -5°C to 50°C is fine
Max accuracy : +/-1°C

I saw the "Parallax USB2SER Development Tool" that seems to be a good choice + Digital Thermometer (DS1620) + What BasicStamp would you recommend?

This is a non critical project in term of computational speed (1 measure/minute is enough :smile: ) but I am looking more for the best quality product (whole project will go several thousands miles from home).

Sorry about the "stupid" questions but it is a first project (and post) :innocent:

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2011-05-17 13:34
    You could certainly use a USB2SER to connect the Stamp to your PC, but you will need a USB to RS232 Serial adapter of some sort for programming the Stamp and you might as well use that. The special I/O pins that the Stamp uses for programming are also used for debugging and that's what you can use to communicate with your PC. The USB Board of Education comes with its own USB to serial adapter for programming (and debugging) and includes a small breadboard area that you can use for holding the DS1620 while you're developing the software for your project. Alternatively, you could get a USB to RS232 serial adapter like this and use the connection diagram on page 28 of the BASIC Stamp Syntax and Reference Manual. You can make your own printed circuit board or use something like this or this carrier board. A BS2 is more than adequate for the task.

    For just reading a DS1620 and sending information to a PC, you could also use a BS1USB which includes the USB adapter. It's marked "End of Life", but it's discounted. It uses an older BS1 microcontroller with limited speed and memory, but, for your project, it's more than enough for your task. Buy a spare. There's a good article on reading the BS1's debug information from the PC here in Nuts and Volts Column #131. There are other columns specific for the BS1.

    Here's an application note specifically for reading the DS1620 about once a second using a BS1 and displaying the results on the PC using DEBUG. You could add a PAUSE so the Stamp only does this once a minute.
  • POCOPOCO Posts: 2
    edited 2011-05-20 00:45
    Mike Green wrote: »
    You could certainly use a USB2SER to connect the Stamp to your PC, but you will need a USB to RS232 Serial adapter of some sort for programming the Stamp and you might as well use that. The special I/O pins that the Stamp uses for programming are also used for debugging and that's what you can use to communicate with your PC. The USB Board of Education comes with its own USB to serial adapter for programming (and debugging) and includes a small breadboard area that you can use for holding the DS1620 while you're developing the software for your project. Alternatively, you could get a USB to RS232 serial adapter like this and use the connection diagram on page 28 of the BASIC Stamp Syntax and Reference Manual. You can make your own printed circuit board or use something like this or this carrier board. A BS2 is more than adequate for the task.

    Mike, a great Tkank you for your explanations.
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