Sensors and PocketPC

Hello,

I would like to develop an application for Windows CE on a PocketPC...
I have quite good knowledges on programming in C++
I also have good knowledges in electronics.
But my program for WinCE needs a sensor : a hall effect sensor that
send an impulse
that I would like to use (using interruption) for measuring a duration
I would to know if it is possible to do it with a PocketPC...
My PocketPC is a HP2210
(it has a USB port and CF/MMC card)
I haven't the finest idea of how (electronicaly) connect the sensor to
the PocketPC, I also haven't the finest idea of how to design a driver
for this.

Regards

---
Fri Jun 15 07:25:54 CDT 2007

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:11:43 -0000, scls <s.celles@gmail.com> wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I would like to develop an application for Windows CE on a PocketPC...
>I have quite good knowledges on programming in C++
>I also have good knowledges in electronics.
>But my program for WinCE needs a sensor : a hall effect sensor that
>send an impulse
>that I would like to use (using interruption) for measuring a duration
>I would to know if it is possible to do it with a PocketPC...
>My PocketPC is a HP2210
>(it has a USB port and CF/MMC card)
>I haven't the finest idea of how (electronicaly) connect the sensor to
>the PocketPC, I also haven't the finest idea of how to design a driver
>for this.

You could build a board with a 8-pin microcontroller (eg: PIC12F675) to beam a
character to the IR port on every pulse of the Hall effect sensor. All you need
is a 970nm IR diode and a resistor on the micro. Then program the Pocket PC to
receive raw IR characters (not IRDA). Use GetTickCount to timestamp the arrival
of characters and you have your Hall effect sensor duration. This is limited by
the timing resolution of Windows CE and the serial port drivers, but I don't
know your exact requirements, so I don't know if this is good enough or not.


Robert Scott
Ypsilanti, Michigan

ctacke/>
Fri Jun 15 09:16:29 CDT 2007

Pocket PC's aren't really "designed" for this sort of thing, so the safest
bet is to go with Scott's suggestion of some separate external hardware and
logic (AVR, PIC, Rabbit, whatever). You could convert to a serial port or
IR and come in that way.


--

Chris Tacke, Embedded MVP
OpenNETCF Consulting
Managed Code in an Embedded World
www.OpenNETCF.com



"scls" <s.celles@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1181884303.636381.282700@e9g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I would like to develop an application for Windows CE on a PocketPC...
> I have quite good knowledges on programming in C++
> I also have good knowledges in electronics.
> But my program for WinCE needs a sensor : a hall effect sensor that
> send an impulse
> that I would like to use (using interruption) for measuring a duration
> I would to know if it is possible to do it with a PocketPC...
> My PocketPC is a HP2210
> (it has a USB port and CF/MMC card)
> I haven't the finest idea of how (electronicaly) connect the sensor to
> the PocketPC, I also haven't the finest idea of how to design a driver
> for this.
>
> Regards
>

Zourious
Fri Jun 15 11:52:34 CDT 2007

On 15 Jun., 16:16, "<ctacke/>" <ctacke[at]opennetcf[dot]com> wrote:
> Pocket PC's aren't really "designed" for this sort of thing, so the safest
> bet is to go with Scott's suggestion of some separate external hardware and
> logic (AVR, PIC, Rabbit, whatever). You could convert to a serial port or
> IR and come in that way.
>
> --
>
> Chris Tacke, Embedded MVP
> OpenNETCF Consulting
> Managed Code in an Embedded Worldwww.OpenNETCF.com
>
> "scls" <s.cel...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1181884303.636381.282700@e9g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Hello,
>
> > I would like to develop an application for Windows CE on a PocketPC...
> > I have quite good knowledges on programming in C++
> > I also have good knowledges in electronics.
> > But my program for WinCE needs a sensor : a hall effect sensor that
> > send an impulse
> > that I would like to use (using interruption) for measuring a duration
> > I would to know if it is possible to do it with a PocketPC...
> > My PocketPC is a HP2210
> > (it has a USB port and CF/MMC card)

Does it has USB Host Port? This is needed, for a program on the PPC
sending commands over the port. In most cases its only a passive usb-
device.
go http://www.insidepda.de to find out.
Labjack offers PocketPC usb host drivers, soft- and hardware to read
out
sensor data. But I'm not an expert in this field.

Regards,
Sasha

Dick
Fri Jun 15 11:49:59 CDT 2007

Hi,

This (probably) is not practical. You don't say what rate you sensor output
pulses will be, but any high-rate (say, in excess of 100 pps, perhaps?), is
destined to suffer from timing jitter caused by the OS and any other
applications and services that are running. Windows for PocketPCs simply is
not sufficiently "real-time" for this application.

You really should consider using some external hardware, either
purpose-built (timer/counter) or a microcontroller (there are lots to choose
from) that you can program to do the timing. Connecting a microcontroller
to your PPC to display results could be done using a serial port on each
device (assuming your PPC has that capability, some do not).

Dick

--
Richard Grier, MVP
Hard & Software
Author of Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications, Fourth
Edition,
ISBN 1-890422-28-2 (391 pages, includes CD-ROM). July 2004, Revised March
2006.
See www.hardandsoftware.net for details and contact information.

scls
Fri Jun 15 15:23:41 CDT 2007



Thanks Robert, <ctacke> Zourious and Dick for your reply...
I didn't think at IR... I was thinking about a Bluetooth connection...
but IR seems to be
easier...
About USB... it is not host... just passive...
About time resolution... it is for measuring lap time of a go-kart
(about 1 minute per lap with
a millisecond of resolution)

bubnikv
Mon Jun 18 03:11:11 CDT 2007

Look at pocketdigi.sourceforge.net, package irkbd. There is a source
for infrared keyboard driver for Palm Wireless Keyboard. Additionally
there is a source for PIC16F628, that drives a single infra red LED
directly to simulate couple of key presses in cycle. You may base your
application on it.

A quite universal and easy way to interface PocketPC is sound input/
output. You may even convert voltages to tone and decode it at the
PocketPC side. Well, most of the old devices does not have microphone
input.

USB is no way to go, because most of the devices do not support USB
host and even if they do, there is no easy way to add a new device
support.

Serial over Bluetooth will work, but the boards are quite expensive. I
think sparkfun.com has some modules ranging from $50.

Vojtech

Uncle
Mon Jun 18 03:20:08 CDT 2007

In reply to scls (s.celles@gmail.com) who wrote this in
1181939021.674730.111230@q66g2000hsg.googlegroups.com, I, Marvo, say :

> Thanks Robert, <ctacke> Zourious and Dick for your reply...
> I didn't think at IR... I was thinking about a Bluetooth connection...
> but IR seems to be
> easier...
> About USB... it is not host... just passive...
> About time resolution... it is for measuring lap time of a go-kart
> (about 1 minute per lap with
> a millisecond of resolution)

I presume this thing isn't for mass production?

If it is, then Bluetooth isn't out of the question, you could make up a
transceiver using a PIC (for the serial interface) and a National
Semiconductor LMX9838SM, which is all approved and everything you need.

The latency time on the Bluetooth interface isn't good enough for
milliseconds, you'd have to get the PIC (crystal-oscillator controlled) to
do the timing and send a message to the PPC Bluetooth for display/recording
purposes.

However, if you're going to all that trouble, you might as well make the PIC
do the display as well :-)

If you need a millisecond of resolution you definitely need an
interrupt-driven device, but bear in mind that interrupts are stacked and
there is no guarantee that the ISR on *another* interrupt isn't going to put
your accuracy out of the window.

What do you want to do with the results? Presumably some sort of DB app?

Gernot
Mon Jun 18 05:02:39 CDT 2007


> About time resolution... it is for measuring lap time of a go-kart
> (about 1 minute per lap with
> a millisecond of resolution)

You should go for a microprocessor that does all the time counting and
send the results to the PocketPC using IRDA or Bluetooth then (the
final lap time).
Just my .02$

Uncle
Mon Jun 18 05:05:53 CDT 2007

In reply to Gernot Frisch (Me@Privacy.net) who wrote this in
5dn3haF3329jcU1@mid.individual.net, I, Marvo, say :

>> About time resolution... it is for measuring lap time of a go-kart
>> (about 1 minute per lap with
>> a millisecond of resolution)
>
> You should go for a microprocessor that does all the time counting and
> send the results to the PocketPC using IRDA or Bluetooth then (the
> final lap time).
> Just my .02$

Same as my £0.02-worth :-)