1st Project & post so please be gentle

crazynight

Senior Member
I am venturing into the world of Picaxe with a clear project in mind, can someone confirm if this as an outline for the project is possible.

in short:
There are 2 racing lanes
Turn on a set on go lights
Monitor and display times for false starts and also display times from crossing the lane after the GO.
Each lanes has 2 sets of inputs (out going and return) which will be monitored to make sure the relay team cross correctly (out going cant be activated before the incoming and also thats there is not more than a 1 sec change over)
Times need to be displayed for each lane once 4 successful crosses have been done

Times will need to be recored to a 100th/sec however the whole event normally takes no more than 30 seconds so accuracy over a short period is key.

Thanks in advance
 

eclectic

Moderator
Welcome to the Forum.

Seems like a perfectly feasible project.

A couple of questions to start:

1. What or who is racing?

2. What is the detection method?

Laser / touch / IR ................

3. Display method? LED / OLED / .............

e
 

crazynight

Senior Member
its dogs, a competition called "Flyball" 2 teams of 4 dogs race against each other to fetch a ball and return. The detection system currently used is a bank of 8 IR sensors per lane 4 for outward and 4 for inward (from what I can see these just equal 2 inputs to be monitored) but I am not expecting that part to be an issue as its just a case of monitoring for a input or not...Not got into looking at the IR devices I have so not sure if they are NC or NO.
 

techElder

Well-known member
... I am not expecting that part to be an issue ...
Every time I read these kind of words, it is associated with the man/machine interface which is always the hardest part of any project!
 

marzan

Senior Member
Hey crazynight. I teach flyball/agility in australia. I have been toying around with a similar idea for a while now but other projects for the club get ib the way(More agility gear/ contact electronic clickers/2 ton trailer for all the gear to be transported to displays. It`s all feasible with pickaxe. I have made a start on it all. I was going to make it all wireless because as you probably know,dogs and wires dont mix..I was making mine accurate to .1 seconds just so I could have enough elapsed time in a 4 digit display.
Look up these threads :

Infraraed:
http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?22906-37-9khz-pulse

Real time clock interfacing with 4 digit display driver:
http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?22126-Code-woes

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?21787-4x7-seg-led-i2C-SAA1064

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?21793-PCF8583-RTC-Programming-problem

wireless:
http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?22762-Txc1-amp-rxb1.

I am not posting these as the best examples of code I may have written. I am posting them for you to look through the invaluable replies to a newbie like me to get this to the point I have.
Feel free to ask any quetions.
\
Marz.
 

crazynight

Senior Member
Thanks Marz interesting how we are both going to be working on a similar project, the use of i2c seems interesting as that will provide a suitable base for the times and time output without taking up too many i/o's from the pic.

Now I know the project is possible going to order up some parts to get started, I need to learn alot so going to start with a PICAXE-14 starter pack but build in on a bread board so I can reuse componantes later.

I am sure I will be back to ask more questions later once I have managed to turn a few LED's on and off ;o)
 

marzan

Senior Member
Remember the most important thing building circuits with Picaxe. DO NOT LEAVE OUT THE DECOUPLING CAPS
 

marzan

Senior Member
If you haven't heard much about I2C the beauty about it is the ability of interfacing a real time clock and the display on the same bus so the picaxe only needs to grab the time and send it to the display.
 

westaust55

Moderator
..Not got into looking at the IR devices I have so not sure if they are NC or NO.
It this dog relay race at night-time of day-time and indoors or outdoors?
If using IR then you will need higher power IR beams and shields around Tx and Rx parts to shield from the effects of sunlight or other bright sources of light.
Will likely need signals on a carrier (38 kH or 40 kHz) and not just straight on/off bursts to help filter out the effects of other sources of IR.

Whether the IR devices are NO or NC output is not of great importance. Using pull-up or pull-down resistors and appropriate commands can cater for any simple contact type closures but keep in mind my comments above re interference from other IR sources.
 

crazynight

Senior Member
Just about to raise an order....

What will be the best parts to display a time via i2c from what I can see it will be

something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-Segment-4-Digit-Display-Serial-I2C-interface-REDx2-Normal-Clock-Type-/310447266392?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&var=&hash=item4848195a58
with the ds1307 RTC & Watch Crystal & CR2032 Cell Holder

OR could I not just use the AXE033Y with the clock upgade, I do only ever need to display numbers but there will be 2 sets needing to be displayed at the same time
 

crazynight

Senior Member
It this dog relay race at night-time of day-time and indoors or outdoors?
If using IR then you will need higher power IR beams and shields around Tx and Rx parts to shield from the effects of sunlight or other bright sources of light.
Will likely need signals on a carrier (38 kH or 40 kHz) and not just straight on/off bursts to help filter out the effects of other sources of IR.

Whether the IR devices are NO or NC output is not of great importance. Using pull-up or pull-down resistors and appropriate commands can cater for any simple contact type closures but keep in mind my comments above re interference from other IR sources.
I have a system to build from and the IR (assumed IR) are working fine so it will just be a case of reverse engineered the output.
 
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