I use a variety of data acquisition techniques, but sometimes quick and dirty is the way to go. When I recently needed to capture 1 variable to tune a scoring algorithm for an electronic game I am developing, I decided the best way to get usable data was to do experiments using the actual prototype device’s sensors and hardware. In the past I have used a Parallax BS2 homework board with their PLX-DAQ program. PLX-DAQ allows a simple method to dump data directly into Microsoft Excel. This is great because it required much less work to setup and was going to result in a real world, immediately useful data-set compared to using my USB DAQ device with Lavbiew. I used a USB<->RS232 cable to connect my hardware.

I do not use much Parallax hardware anymore and have been building my prototypes using Mikroelectronica’s MikroBASIC Pro and their awesome ‘EasyPIC5′ Development board. Porting the .BS2 PBASIC code to work within  MikroBASIC turned out to be a relatively simple task.

Here you can find my code, which is using the xGLCD library available from Pocketmt.com, who also make a nice GLCD font creator.

I hope someone finds this useful!

MikroBasic Pro PLX-DAQ | my MicroBASIC Pro 2009 PLX-DAQ Code

On my old site I had a bunch of 3D files and documents. I will slowly be adding them to this site so that all of the 404 Nothing Found errors people get when following 4 year old links will get them what they are looking for.

There is a company in Illinois that sells low cost imported asian CNC and automation equipment called Kelling Inc. They have some great low cost stuf, but their documentation really looks terrible. While using some of their products in a project I made a nice wiring diagram in Visio and shared it over at CNC Zone, a web forum I used to be very active on.

As a bonus, I am including a SolidWorks model of the Keling NEMA 23 420oz/in Stepper.

Keling 4030 cnc wiring – This is the big diagram pictured directly above

CNC Package Datasheet 1

CNC Package Datasheet 2

Keling Nema23 420oz Stepper Solidworks .sldprt File

The old pre-CMS robertguyser.com site had one very popular item that accounted for 95% of all site traffic: a single 3D rendering of a simple rotary tattoo gun design. For the 2 years it was available, I got some 100 visits a day from people looking for information on DIY rotary tattoo guns. This style of gun uses a small motor to spin a offset cam holding a needle. The needle is fit into a tip that holds ink which it picks up as it moves in and out. This general design is similar to prison tattoo guns, the construction of which show great ingenuity. To make this specific design, it would help to have a metal shop or CNC machine. If there is interest, I will make the 3D model available and some simple NC code.

Soon I will be making 2D plans available, as well as photographing the prototype that is almost completed. If there is any interest shown, I will make a working prototype and photograph the process to help anyone who wants to build a similar device.

One thing I can see that will change as a result of prototyping is the diameter of the flywheel. Clearly the stroke is going to be far longer than would be ideal..

Looking forward to hearing any thoughts on this design from people who have experrience with these devices.

Who knows, maybe I will eventually get a tattoo from a diy gun from this design!