Machine Knitting leaders and counters

using arduino to count rows as the carriage is moved across the knitting bed which can then be ustilized for motor control of knitting pattern device for interactive knitting of garment patterns, countdown counters until changes in settings/yarns need to be made by alarms sounded. as yet this is just a starting place for collaboration. members of the machine knitting community requested a place to collaborate on this project-- which is going forward with Arduino. We are learning as we go. We will certainly have questions, but first we need an outline of what to tackle first.

  1. sensor to recognize the carriage movement past a fixed point. (which type of sensor would be best? will a carriage stopped in front of the sensor cause problems (programming or sensor limitations and ways around it). Sensor needs to be able to work on multiple different machines. eventually as wireless.
    1.a. Hall sensor with a magnet on the carriage.
    1.b. barcode scanner? each different machine could be identified by a barcode sticker which could, in theory provide subcoding parameters...
    1.c. obstical sensor may be the best sensor
  2. counter to total the number of passes the carriage moves. (subsequent counters will be needed that are repeatable or resettable)

:o

Akeru