Slick way to see if the stamp is still working???
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My current stamp project uses a stamp to sleep for a long period of time (3
hours), wake up, open a solenoid for about 10 seconds, then sleep again. My
question is this:
Is there any way to tell when I check the stamp while it is running if
everything is still ok? This project runs off of batteries, so I need to
conserve every bit of power I can. Otherwise I would just put a LED on the
project, that could be my indicator.
Anyone have a slick idea on how to check to make sure everything is still
running, short of waiting up to 3 hours to see if the solenoid opens?
Thanks,
John
hours), wake up, open a solenoid for about 10 seconds, then sleep again. My
question is this:
Is there any way to tell when I check the stamp while it is running if
everything is still ok? This project runs off of batteries, so I need to
conserve every bit of power I can. Otherwise I would just put a LED on the
project, that could be my indicator.
Anyone have a slick idea on how to check to make sure everything is still
running, short of waiting up to 3 hours to see if the solenoid opens?
Thanks,
John
Comments
This device needs to run for weeks or months on a 6v lantern battery.. I
know I'm asking the impossible so to speak. I don't know much about them,
but I bet an interrupt would come in handy right about now!?
Thanks for the input,
John
Subject: RE: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Slick way to see if the stamp is still
working???
How about sleep for shorter period say 30 seconds, wakeup pulse out to an
LED for 1/2 a second then go to sleep again. This should save considerable
battery power and still give an indication that it is still alive.
pushbutton. Sleep for shorter intervals - decide what
the user can live with, since this test would be
infrequent - and between intervals, check the
pushbutton. If the pushbutton is on, turn on the light
until it is released before returning to the normal
cycle of sleeping, or keep the light on for a set time
such as 3 to 5 seconds, and then make up for the lost
time between your main operations to retain the
multi-hour timing to the second.
Bob Pence
--- John Walton <john@l...> wrote:
> That's not too bad of an idea... I'm hoping for one
> even slicker though.
> This device needs to run for weeks or months on a 6v
> lantern battery.. I
> know I'm asking the impossible so to speak. I don't
> know much about them,
> but I bet an interrupt would come in handy right
> about now!?
>
> Thanks for the input,
>
> John
>
>
> Subject: RE: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Slick way to see if the
> stamp is still
> working???
>
>
> How about sleep for shorter period say 30 seconds,
> wakeup pulse out to an
> LED for 1/2 a second then go to sleep again. This
> should save considerable
> battery power and still give an indication that it
> is still alive.
>
>
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> everything is still ok? This project runs off of batteries, so I need
> to conserve every bit of power I can. Otherwise I would just put a
> LED on the project, that could be my indicator.
Put a push-button in series with your LED. When your finger is on
the button the LED will blink off every couple of seconds from the
watchdog timeout. I would put in a transistor with a pullup on the
base (all powered via the push-button) and have the I/O pin set to a
0 so that it was normally off and blinked on. Mostly because it
looks better, but it also uses less current.
Steve.
======================================================
Steve Baldwin Electronic Product Design
TLA Microsystems Ltd Microcontroller Specialists
PO Box 15-680, New Lynn http://www.tla.co.nz
Auckland, New Zealand ph +64 9 820-2221
email: steveb@t... fax +64 9 820-1929
======================================================
If the application is outdoors, you could put a solar panel on the
stamp and use a rechargable battery. Do the LED blink thing like
the other guy mentioned to see if it is actually running, and the
solar to keep the battery up indefinitely.
Doug
On 18 Oct 2001, at 12:05, John Walton wrote:
> My current stamp project uses a stamp to sleep for a long period of
> time (3 hours), wake up, open a solenoid for about 10 seconds, then
> sleep again. My question is this:
>
> Is there any way to tell when I check the stamp while it is running if
> everything is still ok? This project runs off of batteries, so I need
> to conserve every bit of power I can. Otherwise I would just put a
> LED on the project, that could be my indicator.
>
> Anyone have a slick idea on how to check to make sure everything is
> still running, short of waiting up to 3 hours to see if the solenoid
> opens?
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> John
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
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> and Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
Or, couple a "push to test" pushbutton to the reset input, so when
the user presses it, the system wakes up immediately and runs the
tests and then indicates the results even in morse code or something
like that on an led or piezo speaker. I don't know how much you want
in the way of system test results.
BS2 reset pin
||---o----/\/\--+5
|
Stamp P0
o
|
\o N.O button
\
|
com, Vss
Test for P0 low at reset. That is as close as the Stamp gets to an
interrupt. True, this will disrupt your 3 hr sleep cycle, but
presumably the user will not test it very often. You could also use
this as a means to set the time until the next solenoid activation,
by holding the button down for an interval proportional to the
required time.
-- Tracy
>Modify this idea with the addition of a normally open
>pushbutton. Sleep for shorter intervals - decide what
>the user can live with, since this test would be
>infrequent - and between intervals, check the
>pushbutton. If the pushbutton is on, turn on the light
>until it is released before returning to the normal
>cycle of sleeping, or keep the light on for a set time
>such as 3 to 5 seconds, and then make up for the lost
>time between your main operations to retain the
>multi-hour timing to the second.
>
>Bob Pence
>
>
>--- John Walton <john@l...> wrote:
>> That's not too bad of an idea... I'm hoping for one
>> even slicker though.
>> This device needs to run for weeks or months on a 6v
>> lantern battery.. I
>> know I'm asking the impossible so to speak. I don't
>> know much about them,
>> but I bet an interrupt would come in handy right
>> about now!?
>>
>> Thanks for the input,
>>
>
> > John
solution. I guess I just haven't taken the time to figure it out... My
initial concern would be the cost of the battery. The stamp takes almost
zero power while it is sleeping, and my relay/solenoid only fires a maximum
of every 3 hours, so that doesn't use much power either. Anyone done a
project with a stamp and a solar panel like I'm discussing?
TIA,
John Walton
At 04:11 PM 10/18/01 -0500, you wrote:
>What is the application?
>If the application is outdoors, you could put a solar panel on the
>stamp and use a rechargable battery. Do the LED blink thing like
>the other guy mentioned to see if it is actually running, and the
>solar to keep the battery up indefinitely.
>
>Doug
>
>
>On 18 Oct 2001, at 12:05, John Walton wrote:
>
> > My current stamp project uses a stamp to sleep for a long period of
> > time (3 hours), wake up, open a solenoid for about 10 seconds, then
> > sleep again. My question is this:
> > --snip--
Would this prove the stamp was running when I first went to check it? I
may be missing something here, but if I reset it, I don't actually know if
everything was a-ok when I went to test it. I would know it still works,
but I wouldn't know how it was doing to begin with. Thank you for the
schematic though, it's very helpful to us newbies [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Thanks again,
John
At 04:13 PM 10/18/01 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi John,
>
>Or, couple a "push to test" pushbutton to the reset input, so when
>the user presses it, the system wakes up immediately and runs the
>tests and then indicates the results even in morse code or something
>like that on an led or piezo speaker. I don't know how much you want
>in the way of system test results.
>
> BS2 reset pin
||---o----/\/\--+5
> |
> Stamp P0
o
> |
> \o N.O button
> \
> |
> com, Vss
>
>Test for P0 low at reset. That is as close as the Stamp gets to an
>interrupt. True, this will disrupt your 3 hr sleep cycle, but
>presumably the user will not test it very often. You could also use
>this as a means to set the time until the next solenoid activation,
>by holding the button down for an interval proportional to the
>required time.
>
> -- Tracy
>
>
>
> >Modify this idea with the addition of a normally open
> >pushbutton. Sleep for shorter intervals - decide what
> >the user can live with, since this test would be
> >infrequent - and between intervals, check the
> >pushbutton. If the pushbutton is on, turn on the light
> >until it is released before returning to the normal
> >cycle of sleeping, or keep the light on for a set time
> >such as 3 to 5 seconds, and then make up for the lost
> >time between your main operations to retain the
> >multi-hour timing to the second.
> >
> >Bob Pence
> >
> >
> >--- John Walton <john@l...> wrote:
> >> That's not too bad of an idea... I'm hoping for one
> >> even slicker though.
> >> This device needs to run for weeks or months on a 6v
> >> lantern battery.. I
> >> know I'm asking the impossible so to speak. I don't
> >> know much about them,
> >> but I bet an interrupt would come in handy right
> >> about now!?
> >>
> >> Thanks for the input,
> >>
> >
> > > John
>
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does it require? You might be able to use a very large capacitor as
the power source, maintained by the solar panel. No worries for a
battery going defective. Capacitors will last for *years* with no
maintenance if they are not over charged. A good source is from
an old power supply and find the biggest you can find. I have some
out in the barn with a 24000 microfarad at 50 VDC. If you charge
this with a 12 volt solar panel, and use a very efficient regulator,
you may get hours of operation from the dischagre of the capacitor.
I will do some experimenting with a circuit I'm working on with 3
sonar modules and see how log it will run on a charge.
Let you know what happens later.
Doug
On 18 Oct 2001, at 23:34, John Walton wrote:
> It is definitely outdoors, and I've thought about the
> solar/rechargeable solution. I guess I just haven't taken the time to
> figure it out... My initial concern would be the cost of the battery.
> The stamp takes almost zero power while it is sleeping, and my
> relay/solenoid only fires a maximum of every 3 hours, so that doesn't
> use much power either. Anyone done a project with a stamp and a solar
> panel like I'm discussing?
>
> TIA,
>
> John Walton
>
> At 04:11 PM 10/18/01 -0500, you wrote:
> >What is the application?
> >If the application is outdoors, you could put a solar panel on the
> >stamp and use a rechargable battery. Do the LED blink thing like the
> >other guy mentioned to see if it is actually running, and the solar
> >to keep the battery up indefinitely.
> >
> >Doug
> >
> >
> >On 18 Oct 2001, at 12:05, John Walton wrote:
> >
> > > My current stamp project uses a stamp to sleep for a long period
> > > of time (3 hours), wake up, open a solenoid for about 10 seconds,
> > > then sleep again. My question is this: --snip--
>
>
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>
24000 uF capacitor and charged it with 12 v. it runs three sonar
modules, pinging all three one behind the other, 150ms apart. It
will ping 7 to 8 more times after power is removed. Keep in mind
that the sonar modules require nearly 1 amp of current (for a very
short time) during the actual ping. If your solenoid isn't real
demanding, and it don't have to remain pulled for too long, this may
be ok. The stamp will run quite awhile in sleep mode.
Hope this helps. . .
Doug
On 19 Oct 2001, at 17:13, veewee77@a... wrote:
> How long does the solenoid stay pulled in and how much current
> does it require? You might be able to use a very large capacitor as
> the power source, maintained by the solar panel. No worries for a
> battery going defective. Capacitors will last for *years* with no
> maintenance if they are not over charged. A good source is from an
> old power supply and find the biggest you can find. I have some out
> in the barn with a 24000 microfarad at 50 VDC. If you charge this
> with a 12 volt solar panel, and use a very efficient regulator, you
> may get hours of operation from the dischagre of the capacitor.
>
> I will do some experimenting with a circuit I'm working on with 3
> sonar modules and see how log it will run on a charge.
>
> Let you know what happens later.
>
> Doug
>
>
> On 18 Oct 2001, at 23:34, John Walton wrote:
>
> > It is definitely outdoors, and I've thought about the
> > solar/rechargeable solution. I guess I just haven't taken the time
> > to figure it out... My initial concern would be the cost of the
> > battery. The stamp takes almost zero power while it is sleeping, and
> > my relay/solenoid only fires a maximum of every 3 hours, so that
> > doesn't use much power either. Anyone done a project with a stamp
> > and a solar panel like I'm discussing?
> >
> > TIA,
> >
> > John Walton
> >
> > At 04:11 PM 10/18/01 -0500, you wrote:
> > >What is the application?
> > >If the application is outdoors, you could put a solar panel on the
> > >stamp and use a rechargable battery. Do the LED blink thing like
> > >the other guy mentioned to see if it is actually running, and the
> > >solar to keep the battery up indefinitely.
> > >
> > >Doug
> > >
> > >
> > >On 18 Oct 2001, at 12:05, John Walton wrote:
> > >
> > > > My current stamp project uses a stamp to sleep for a long period
> > > > of time (3 hours), wake up, open a solenoid for about 10
> > > > seconds, then sleep again. My question is this: --snip--
> >
> >
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> > Subject and Body of the message will be ignored.
> >
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> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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