I am looking to purchase a board for personel use. What I would like to do is connect a fluid flow meter (magmeter) which has 4-20 ma signal. In addition, I want to also connect a solenoid (actuator valve) which would. Can anyone please recommend which board I should buy and maybe where from? I am in Canada. ohhh, by the way, this stuff is new to me but my friend and I have some cool ideas with this board. We also may look into hiring someone to program the board for us!
I think the standard arduino Uno board would more then meet your needs and is the best board to get started with. As your future projects get more complex or ambitious then you may indeed find boards better suited to the projects requirements. Don't think the first arduino board you ever buy will be your last one to purchase.
Can't help you with a Canadian supplier, but I always buy stuff like that on-line from all over the world.
Lefty
thanks Lefty for the help.
I didn't finish my first post. Meant to also mention that the basics of the programming would be based on pulse signals sent from the meter to the board. In turn, the programming of the board would allow me to control when the valve opens and closes based on the number of pulses received.
Taizer:
thanks Lefty for the help.I didn't finish my first post. Meant to also mention that the basics of the programming would be based on pulse signals sent from the meter to the board. In turn, the programming of the board would allow me to control when the valve opens and closes based on the number of pulses received.
Sure sounds like a classic industrial controller type application. There is even a full P&ID software library avalible if you wish to try and implement it. You will have to create and adapt the basic measurement functions and output control functions to the P& ID library, but it's all doable.
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Code/PIDLibrary
Good luck;
Lefty
Pilgrim you face a rocky road ahead ,get plenty of Valiums in stock ,best wishes from another Pilgrim ..
and prepare to lose all your hair
haha thanks knuckles. This is where elance or fiver.com come into play! will hire someone to do the programming for me. unless we find some eager uni student eager!
Does the Board have a built in wifi chip or do I have to buy one and connect it to the board?
Taizer:
Does the Board have a built in wifi chip or do I have to buy one and connect it to the board?
The latter. But arduino does sell a wifi 'shield' that can connect to the standard Uno board. But keep in mind your project has taken a big jump in complexity and learning curve time if wifi is required. But that's just a problem for the intern to deal with, correct.