Hi everyone.
I'm very new to the whole physical programming world. I can program in Java, Ruby and C, so I figure I can pickup the programming side of things at a good clip, but I have never done any programming of electronics. So I'm new at this. I want to build a prototype for a timer/logger for etching copper plates. The mock-up for the timer is at the link below. I wanted to know whether is possible to create a prototype like this with the latest Arduino kits.
To explain what the timer would do is essentially this:
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In "Programming mode" you would be able to get to the different timers and set them by pushing the dial until
the right timer flashes and then rotating the dial to set the right number. -
In "Timer mode" the timer would time the etching sequence as well as allow you to log what is happening in real-time with the etching. It would be driven by a simple foot-switch. You would start the "Total Time" timer with the foot-switch and you would click once to be able to log the step number you see is being etched, it would keep all the info in memory for later retrieval.
So I need to be able to:
Run three timers at once independent from each other, the "Total Time" and "Etch Time" are simple timers that just count down, but are started at different times, the "Step Time" has to be calculated and set in programming mode based on the "Contrast Range" entered and it resets itself every time you go down 1 step. I also want to display the divergence from the ideal "Step Time" of the last 5 steps + or - in seconds in the LED array.
I know this is a lot to chew on for a beginner but I have an unlimited amount of time to do this since it's not a business thing, but something to make my own life easier in my studio. Thanks for any input that anyone may provide. Cheers.
Steven