Pressure sensor with Arduino and Fischertechnik

Hi,
I am absolutely new to the whole micro controller field. Durning the good old C64 times I had a Fischertechnik computing toolkit (Fischertechnik - Wikipedia). Now I would like to use my Fischertechnik with an Arduino-board.
Right now I do not own an Arduino board. The first project I would like to do, is a little device to measure the stability of reed culms (Reed (plant) - Wikipedia. Therefor I want to use a pressure sensor. With a motor I want to increase the pressure on the culm until it breaks. The pressure should be shown in a curve pressure against time.
I would very much appreciate if you could tell me if I could use the Arduino board for this purpose. If yes, which board would be the best for it and what other stuff do I need. As said before I own quit a lot of Fischertechnik so the mechanic should be no problem. I definitely need a pressure sensor. So it would be great if someone could recommend one, which is suitable for my purpose. The sensor would be quite precise because I want to compare the stability of different culms.

Thanks for your help.

What are reed culms ? Can you add a link in your message (just copy the URL in your text).

The most standard Arduino is the Arduino Uno.
Almost all Arduino boards can be used to read sensors (using analog inputs, or digital I2C or some other protocol). They can turn pumps on and off using a driver (mosfet or add-on board called a 'shield').
If you buy an Arduino Uno, you need a usb cable and perhaps an adapter. I use a switching adapter of 9V. You can load the example sketch "blinking led" into the Uno and you will see a led blinking. From that point on, the possibilities are endless.

The analog input of the Arduino are 10-bits. So an analog pressure sensor can be read with 10-bits accuracy.

In the Playground section you will find a few pressure sensors : Arduino Playground - InterfacingWithHardware
But there are so many pressure sensors, with so many differect specifications. You should know what you want (absolute or relative pressure, only positive or also negative pressure, what is the maximum pressure to measure, ..... and so on).

If you search Ebay for : mpx* pressure sensor
you will get some idea what is availabe. The MPX... series is just one of the many series of pressure sensors.
Some are already calibrated and compensated and operate at 5V, search Ebay for: MPXH6400*

Now I would like to use my Fischertechnik with an Arduino-board.

A link that shows what a Fischertechnik is would be useful.

The first project I would like to do, is a little device to measure the stability of reed culms.

What are reed culms?

Therefor I want to use a pressure sensor. With a motor I want to increase the pressure on the culm until it breaks. The pressure should be shown in a curve pressure against time.
I would very much appreciate if you could tell me if I could use the Arduino board for this purpose.

Reading the pressure sensor and controlling the motor and measuring time are all possible.

Feeding the data to a PC and having it draw a curve of pressure vs. time is possible.

Having the Arduino itself do that is barely possible on some graphic LCD screens. Those are generally pretty small, though.

If yes, which board would be the best for it

The demands you are placing on the board are minimal. Any Arduino would suffice.

and what other stuff do I need.

Programming skills. Fabrication skills. Imagination.

I definitely need a pressure sensor. So it would be great if someone could recommend one, which is suitable for my purpose.

Not possible. We have no idea what range of pressure you need to measure, over what period of time, to what precision.

Hi,
Thank you very much for your replies.

Here is a link to show what reed is: Reed (plant) - Wikipedia
And this is Fischertechnik: Fischertechnik - Wikipedia

Feeding the data toa PC would be sufficient. There is no need for the Arduino to do that.

The aim is to squeeze the culm (stem) until it breaks and read the pressure during that process.

Now I will get myself an Arduino Uno and browse your links to find a suitable pressure sensor.

Thanks.

Thanks for the explanation.
So you want to know about mechanical pressure ?
I assumed you wanted air pressure.

So you need a force sensor ?
For example Honeywell has those : Safety and Productivity Solutions | Honeywell
But there are even more possibilities with force sensors than with air pressure sensors. There are many different ways to sense a force.