I need to read the information being sent to the lcd of a hand tool, (laser meter in this case) and display it perhaps on my pc or other output. Can I do this? for example have a virtual display in computer?
That's a great idea.
Maybe we could start by asking if you have any documentation about any possible interface
connector or way to communicate with the device ?
I am trying to read the info being sent to the display through the ribbon cable, however i dont have any documentation on the display itself. the product is a ryobi laser range finder with a simple interface.
It is a swuare digital 1in by 1in display with not many digits, if I could just somehow get a reading from the ribbon cable, I could possibly crack the code by trial and error even. But how can i do that?
Start by taking the unit apart and take some good clear pictures of the electronics inside. Capturing the signals on the flex-cable for the passive LCD-glass is very hard. It would be easier to extract the reading another place in the circuit.
Shoot some good pictures, post them on flickr, or whatever and link to them here.
If posting pictures directly here, please resize them so they're a maximum og 1000 pixels in size.
// Per.
about any possible interface
connector or way to communicate with the device ?
I'm not sure if you answered the question.
Is there a connector ? (you mention ribbon cable but I don't know where that comes from or where it is connect to)
Why would a laser range finder have a ribbon cable ?
Do you mean to say you already opened it up and there is a ribbon cable from the display to the controller ?
Is that what you mean ?
sepehrghassemi:
ryobi laser range finder
There's a lot of those, and each has a different proprietary display.
Is it that hard to also mention the specific model of the device you've got ?