exciting and reading the Sharp object detection sensor GP2D02

[aartjan]

I want to use this sensor, but resources online only seem to use controllers to interface with this particular sensor. Through controllers it is possible to get the data to a host computer (using a serial port). I want to know whether I can interface directly from my host computer with LV7.1.
The sensor needs an exitation input for every bit it transmits and it's output is 8 bits serial. The specs can be found at Acroname.com:
http://www.acroname.com/robotics/parts/R19-IR02.html
the specsheet explains what the sensor needs for input and what it's output is:
http://www.acroname.com/robotics/parts/gp2d02.pdf
I can imagine it could be done using the parallel port, a serial port or my 6062 pcmcia DAQ board us
ing the 8 DIO lines.

Anyone with experience with such IO? What are your recomendations?

I could ask more detailed questions, but for who is interested, it is best to take a look at the spec sheet first.
Thanks!

Aart-Jan

[JaredA]

Hello Aart-Jan,

I hope that I can provide you with a little insight into the application that you are hoping to accomplish. First of all, however, I just wanted to give you a quick recommendation on posting to the discussion forums. You posted into the LabVIEW discussion forum which is monitored by LabVIEW enthusiasts around the world. What you are hoping to accomplish is more related to Data Acquisition, and more importantly Instrument Connectivity. My first suggestions to you would be to post to the Instrument Connectivity and/or DAQ forums to see if you are able to find an enthusiast that has done something similar to what you are hoping to accomplish.

Now that that's out of the way, allow me to give you any information I might have on interfacing this senso
r with your NI 6062E. As you have stated, it outputs 8-bits serial. In order to accomplish this, you would need to have a DAQ card that you could take advantage of hardware timed digital I/O, a feature that you E series device lacks. You would be reliant on software timed digital transfers if you were to try to interface this sensor with your 8 DIO lines, and I really don't think this is what you would want to be doing. So I do not recommend trying to use your 6062E for this task.

I hope that I have helped you. If you would like, post back to this discussion and maybe I could give you some more information. But you would probably be better off posting to the Instrument Connectivity forum.

Regards,

Jared A

[aartjan]

Thanks Jared. For now I stepped away from the sensor. I may look into a microcontroller solution sometime. I would like to bridge the gap between cheap low level sensors to high level USB/RS232 ports using a single chip controller.