Just testing.  I haven't received anything from the list since 28 December.


----------------------------------------------------
"What the detractors and critics of electric vehicles
have been saying for years, is true. The electric
vehicle is not for everybody, given the limited range
it can only meet the needs of 90% of the population."

Ed Begley Jr.
----------------------------------------------------

Just testing.  I haven't received anything from the list since 28 December.  I
had recent problems with bouncing e-mails from Yahoo Groups.


----------------------------------------------------
"What the detractors and critics of electric vehicles
have been saying for years, is true. The electric
vehicle is not for everybody, given the limited range
it can only meet the needs of 90% of the population."

Ed Begley Jr.
----------------------------------------------------

There were two posts on the 29th and one on the 30th, all about bunnybot

On Sun, Jan 3, 2010 at 7:33 AM, Randy Carter <rwcarter.wa@...> wrote:
> Just testing.  I haven't received anything from the list since 28 December.

--
Dave Hylands
Shuswap, BC, Canada
http://www.DaveHylands.com/

Yahoo keeps track of message bounces and if certain conditions are met they stop
sending messages.  You will then be required to go to the site and reactivate
your account.  The only clue you have that there is something wrong is by how
long has it been since the last message.

It got sent twice because this damn web based e-mail service keeps resetting my
e-mail return address to to netzero.com when is is supposed to be netzero.net. 
On every other mail list my messages get bounced for that minor difference. 
After I sent the first message I went "doh!" and checked the return address and
sure enough it was sent from netzero.com  So I resent it again from netzero.net
expecting the .com message to be bounced.

Sorry :)

----------------------------------------------------
"What the detractors and critics of electric vehicles
have been saying for years, is true. The electric
vehicle is not for everybody, given the limited range
it can only meet the needs of 90% of the population."

Ed Begley Jr.
----------------------------------------------------


Please note: message attached

From: Steve Kozachik <steve_kozachik@...>
To: SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [SeattleRobotics] Just testing!
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2010 09:02:30 -0800 (PST)

Wow we had so much happening in our weekly Monday night chats during 2009, can't
wait to see what gets contributed during 2010.


Richard


I hear the Freenode has had issues with Mibbit and would rather us use their
webchat gateway for those that don't want to install their own IRC software.

So to use webchat use the link

http://tinyurl.com/SRS-Chat

Which points too:

http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=SeattleRobotics

And of course, all the standalone IRC clients work, and you should be able to
get them working with the answers below or on the Seattle Robotics website.
seattlerobotics.org under Contact us.



Richard
/* ----------------------------------------- */

The Seattle Robotics Society hosts a "Monday Night Chat" each week.

Starting at 7pm Seattle Time each Monday, the SRS holds an
informal chat session. This is a great opportunity to come ask live
questions of the SRS members, seek help for technical problems, or
just chat about stuff.

Directions:

For you experts, the chat is held on irc.freenode.net in the
#seattlerobotics group.


New web chat interface!
No Software to install.

http://tinyurl.com/SRS-Chat

Tiny URL points to:

http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=SeattleRobotics


If you register with mibbit, it also allows you to post files to share
and log chat sessions. But there is no need to do that to participate.

Chatzilla is still the most recommended interface to Monday Night
Chat. And once installed (Along with the Firefox web browser), the
chat can be accessed from this link.

irc://irc.freenode.net/#SeattleRobotics


Directions for mIRC which may be applicable to other IRC chat clients
can be found at the SRS Homepage at
http://www.seattlerobotics.org
in the contact us link at:
http://seattlerobotics.org/contact.php



For Mac Users:
http://colloquy.info/
(Umm I don't actually have experience setting this up, but you should
be able to figure it out from the directions on the Contact page of the Seattle
Robotics website.

http://www.seattlerobotics.org



Message Ends

Hey guys, I found this Yahoo Group search Google. I found great topics but I
really didn't find what I was looking.

I have a project at school witch consists of this:
I need to build a prototype to be fixed on a disable parking spot. So if a car
parks on this spot, it will detect the car and send an alarm for the security
guard to check if the car has authorization or not.

I thought on using InfraRed Sensors, but I have a doubt if the sensor only
detects moving objects. I wanted to have a 5 min alarm interval, so the
prototype would check for every 5 minutes until the security comes. And if the
car leaves, it will reset itself.

Any thoughts? If I use IR sensor, will I be able to check for every 5 min?

Cheers!

Filipe Braga

Hello everyone,
I'm making a gas burner, actually i'm using a stepper motor to drive gas
valve with an encoder made by a multiturn potentiometer connected to adc
to sense valve position; theres an igniter and a security
normally-closed solenoid valve on gas tubing.

Everything is working correctly, the system is able to start-up and PID
controlling temperature of a liquid, but i'd like to detect flame
presence for safety, any idea on possible methods ?

Thank you,
Giacomo.

There's a part from Melexis, MLX90614, that will do the trick.  It has an
I2C/PWM interface.

To:              SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com
From:            "Giacomo \"Deffie\" Di Ciocco" <tech@...>
Date sent:       Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:22:05 +0100
Subject:         [SeattleRobotics] DIY methods to detect flame presence
Send reply to:   SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com

> Hello everyone,
> I'm making a gas burner, actually i'm using a stepper motor to drive
> gas valve with an encoder made by a multiturn potentiometer connected
> to adc to sense valve position; theres an igniter and a security
> normally-closed solenoid valve on gas tubing.
>
> Everything is working correctly, the system is able to start-up and
> PID controlling temperature of a liquid, but i'd like to detect flame
> presence for safety, any idea on possible methods ?
>
> Thank you,
> Giacomo.
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit the SRS Website at http://www.seattlerobotics.orgYahoo! Groups
> Links
>
>
>

Hey Erik, thanks for replying!

The spot is about 600 ft away from the guard shack. I'm planing on
doing the connections by wire since I don't have much knowledge of
wireless system.

I had some doubt on IR sensors because I have seen them allot in
motion detection system, so I wasn't sure it could work to detect
still object. I also checked at ultrasonic sensors, but the cheap ones
I found had a 120 degrees directivity, witch we could have a problem
detecting more than one car at once. I will try to find more details
on IR "distance" sensors.

I also thought what would happen if a person walked by, so I think a
10-15 seconds would work fine. I'll check on electronics shop for a
micro controller and try and set it up.

Thanks for your help.

Filipe Braga
__________________________________________________
Faça ligações para outros computadores com o novo Yahoo! Messenger
http://br.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/

There are several ways to approach this. An IR or ultrasonic distance
sensor could be used, with a microcontroller to read the distance
measurement and toggle the alarm line on or off if something is close
enough that it is in the spot. If you can mount something on both sides
of the parking spot, you could use an IR transmitter/receiver on one
side, and mount a reflector on the other - if the beam is interrupted
for a certain period of time, toggle the alarm on.
You certainly want to minimize false alarms, or the guard will ignore
it.
-Bob C

On Wed, 2010-01-06 at 18:45 +0000, filipedsbraga wrote:
>
> Hey guys, I found this Yahoo Group search Google. I found great topics
> but I really didn't find what I was looking.
>
> I have a project at school witch consists of this:
> I need to build a prototype to be fixed on a disable parking spot. So
> if a car parks on this spot, it will detect the car and send an alarm
> for the security guard to check if the car has authorization or not.
>
> I thought on using InfraRed Sensors, but I have a doubt if the sensor
> only detects moving objects. I wanted to have a 5 min alarm interval,
> so the prototype would check for every 5 minutes until the security
> comes. And if the car leaves, it will reset itself.
>
> Any thoughts? If I use IR sensor, will I be able to check for every 5
> min?
>
> Cheers!
>
> Filipe Braga
>
>
>
>
>

How about a Pryo detector?

Eltec 442-3 Pryo detector

TPA81 Thermopile

R67-UVTRON  UV sensor

Alan  KM6VV

> -----Original Message-----
> On Behalf Of Giacomo "Deffie" Di
>
> Hello everyone,
> I'm making a gas burner, actually i'm using a stepper motor to drive gas
> valve with an encoder made by a multiturn potentiometer connected to adc
> to sense valve position; theres an igniter and a security
> normally-closed solenoid valve on gas tubing.
>
> Everything is working correctly, the system is able to start-up and PID
> controlling temperature of a liquid, but i'd like to detect flame
> presence for safety, any idea on possible methods ?
>
> Thank you,
> Giacomo.

Hi again Erik.

Well, since it is a high school project I didn't have in mind building
something so sophisticated, so this is what I had in mind:
- I would have a small plastic compartment that would store all the
electronics components and the sensor.
- Having this compartment set, I would connect a small alarm at the
guard shack, so when a car is parked at the disable spot, the guard
would go and check if there is any authorization.
- If the car has authorization the guard would make the alarm inactive
until the car leaves it's spot.
- When the sensor detects no cars, it would reset the system and if a
car comes in again the alarm would sound again.

I have a basic knowledge of electronics, but I found your idea really
great and I would like to know more about setting up a network of
sensors with the RS485 bus, would you suggest any website or forum
that I can get some material to read?  If it's not too complicated and
soo expensive I would install it on the other disable spot at the
parking lot. If the project goes well, I know it can be of great
contribute for the high school, I hope I can manage to build.

Thanks for your attention,

Filipe Braga
__________________________________________________
Faça ligações para outros computadores com o novo Yahoo! Messenger
http://br.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/

Hi Robert, thank you also replying.

I have thought on having two IR sensors, one on each side, but at the
disable spot we have here there isn't much room for that. If I install
any device on the side it might trouble the wheelchair access and etc.

I had in mind installing the device at the front part of the spot,
were usually the car's hood would face.

Let's see how it works out.

Thanks for your suggestion,

Filipe Braga
__________________________________________________
Faça ligações para outros computadores com o novo Yahoo! Messenger
http://br.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/

You need to consider a couple of additional things:

1) What are you trying to detect? What properties of what you are detecting
are unique to it? If you are trying to detect any object in the space, that
is one thing. If you are only trying to detect a vehicle that would be
another.

2) Almost more important: What are you trying NOT to detect. What properties
can you detect but ignore? This is one of the tricky parts of sensors. If
you don't have complete control over an environment, being able to ignore
sensor input is usually more important.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Filipe Braga" <filipedsbraga@...>
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 8:36 AM
To: <SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [SeattleRobotics] I.R. Sensors (Help for school)

> Hey Erik, thanks for replying!
>
> The spot is about 600 ft away from the guard shack. I'm planing on
> doing the connections by wire since I don't have much knowledge of
> wireless system.
>
> I had some doubt on IR sensors because I have seen them allot in
> motion detection system, so I wasn't sure it could work to detect
> still object. I also checked at ultrasonic sensors, but the cheap ones
> I found had a 120 degrees directivity, witch we could have a problem
> detecting more than one car at once. I will try to find more details
> on IR "distance" sensors.
>
> I also thought what would happen if a person walked by, so I think a
> 10-15 seconds would work fine. I'll check on electronics shop for a
> micro controller and try and set it up.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Filipe Braga
> __________________________________________________
> Faça ligações para outros computadores com o novo Yahoo! Messenger
> http://br.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit the SRS Website at http://www.seattlerobotics.orgYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Filipe

> I had some doubt on IR sensors because I have seen them allot in
> motion detection system, so I wasn't sure it could work to detect
> still object.

Don't confuse PIR sensors (which detect the warmth of a moving person) with
IR distance sensors (which work a little like radar).

> I would like to know more about setting up a network of
> sensors with the RS485 bus,

First get it working with a simple wired connection to just one parking bay.
Then see how much time and enthusiasm you have left for radio or an RS485
bus.


The usual way to detect cars is to use a magnetic induction loop. Here is an
amateur project:
http://www3.telus.net/chemelec/Projects/Loop-Detector/Loop-Detector.htm

Or you can even buy them on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VEHICLE-LOOP-DETECTOR---12-TO-24V.-AC%2FDC---ROBUST-SMALL_\
W0QQitemZ110452164002QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxq20091101?IMSfp=TL091101146001r21640

Google for 'vehicle loop detector circuit' and you may find more free
circuit diagrams.

A loop of maybe 4 to 20 turns of cable forms an inductor. (Use e.g. mains
cable - it's well insulated, tough and has 3 conductors you can use as 3
turns. 6-core LAN cable would be good too - not as tough but cheaper or
easier to get for free.) The inductor (along with a capacitor) is typically
the "tuned" part of an oscillator. The circuit oscillates at a different
frequency when there's a car over it (or the oscillation is damped when
there's a car there - depends on the design).

The circuit may be easier for an electronics-beginner to build than one
involving a micro-processor: you won't have to learn how to program the
micro. But if you already know how to program a micro, then that would be an
even better way to use an induction loop. Here's a very simple metal
detector which could be changed to work as a car detector
http://www.micro-examples.com/public/microex-navig/doc/076-picodetector.html

Peter

I have a lot of PDF files on robotics research and other topics, stored on HD
and CDROM. I would like to be able to search through a directory containing say
50 or 100 such files, and see a summary list of the "titles" of all files in the
directory, or maybe the first few lines of the files, or the abstract, whatever
- and without having to go to the trouble of opening each of the 50-100 files
individually.

Anyone have or can suggest a good utility for doing this? I've found the
following as a start point, but someone else may be fluent with this endeavor
already.

http://www.index-pdf.com/solutions/other-pdf-search-tools.htm

----- Original Message -----

From: oric_dan

To: SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 2:52 AM

Subject: [SeattleRobotics] [slightly OT] pdf indexer

 

I have a lot of PDF files on robotics research and other topics, stored on HD and CDROM. I would like to be able to search through a directory containing say 50 or 100 such files, and see a summary list of the "titles" of all files in the directory, or maybe the first few lines of the files, or the abstract, whatever - and without having to go to the trouble of opening each of the 50-100 files individually.

Anyone have or can suggest a good utility for doing this? I've found the following as a start point, but someone else may be fluent with this endeavor already.

http://www.index-pdf.com/solutions/other-pdf-search-tools.htm

filipedsbraga ha scritto:
> Hey guys, I found this Yahoo Group search Google. I found great topics but I
really didn't find what I was looking.
>
> I have a project at school witch consists of this:
> I need to build a prototype to be fixed on a disable parking spot. So if a car
parks on this spot, it will detect the car and send an alarm for the security
guard to check if the car has authorization or not.
>
> I thought on using InfraRed Sensors, but I have a doubt if the sensor only
detects moving objects. I wanted to have a 5 min alarm interval, so the
prototype would check for every 5 minutes until the security comes. And if the
car leaves, it will reset itself.
>
> Any thoughts? If I use IR sensor, will I be able to check for every 5 min?
>
> Cheers!
>
> Filipe Braga
>
Hi Filipe,
a parenthesis about sensor, its common practice to use metal detectors
in parking spots, you may be able to find something already packed and
ruggedized for this applications, the metal detectors works by detecting
frequency change of an oscillator influenced by the metal object, but,
for example, a cheap kit like this will work:
http://www.electronickits.com/kit/complete/meas/vek7102.htm

And once tuned properly it wont detect anything smaller than a car.

Bye,
Giacomo.

Hi Peter,

Thank you for your comments. I had some doubts on the PIR sensors and
the IR distance, I had seen both before and they were refereed as IR
sensor, but I new there was a difference, learning as we go.

Yeah, I'm will try to do the basics and have it working for only one
device. If I have time I'll try and learn on the RS485 bus network.

I checked the links and they are great!

Thanks again.

Filipe
__________________________________________________
Faça ligações para outros computadores com o novo Yahoo! Messenger
http://br.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/

--- In SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com, "David Buckley" <david@...> wrote:
>
> Well I hope someone comes up with something that is as easy to use and as fast
as flicking through the pages of a book. We know from Google that indexing is
great if you want to find occurrences of words but not for titles and abstracts
of papers nor image content.
>


Oy. I have maybe 20 CDROMs of pdf files, and I thought I was bad. In some ways,
high-BW access is a bane.

Thanks for the bad news about Wysigot.


>
> I have just checked and excluding video and books and some other subjects I
have about 2GB of Electronics, 1.5GB of History, 0.5GB of Biology and 17GB of
Robotics in PDF, html, images, and text. Plus 11GB in Wysigot, and 10GB in
eCatch of PDF and html pages mainly robotics.
> All this is starting to tax my memory.
>
> To help with the PDF and html pages I normally include the title and date in
the file title. I also create html sumaries and text index files.
>
> I would have more but on packing, Wysigot threw away most of the images from a
lot of the Japanese pages from the early 90s rendering them virtually useless
and won't open the others.
>
> Moral never use a database where you can't go in and fix things manually,
eCatch is great but can't handle Japanese characters and Java whereas Wysigot as
I said throws your stuff away.
> What was that about .dbx files!!!
>
> David
>
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: oric_dan
>   To: SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 2:52 AM
>   Subject: [SeattleRobotics] [slightly OT] pdf indexer
>
>
>
>
>   I have a lot of PDF files on robotics research and other topics, stored on
HD and CDROM. I would like to be able to search through a directory containing
say 50 or 100 such files, and see a summary list of the "titles" of all files in
the directory, or maybe the first few lines of the files, or the abstract,
whatever - and without having to go to the trouble of opening each of the 50-100
files individually.
>
>   Anyone have or can suggest a good utility for doing this? I've found the
following as a start point, but someone else may be fluent with this endeavor
already.
>
>   http://www.index-pdf.com/solutions/other-pdf-search-tools.htm
>

--- In SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Balch" <peterbalch@...> wrote:
>


Thanks for the pointer. I wasn't aware of it, but am checking it out.

http://desktop.google.com/features.html

However, I don't really need my entire HD indexed, as I already have zillions
upon zillions of subdirectories. What is the real killer is having to open tons
of PDF files just to find out what they are basically about - and which is
usually adequately indicated by the file "title".

BTW, WinXP appears to have some sort of HD indexer, which I disabled. I hate
listening to the HD thrashing around in the background when I'm not accessing
it. I never use search on my HD, as I have it organized with a billion
subdirectories.



> Dan
>
> > I would like to be able to search through a directory containing say 50 or
100 PDF files
>
> Doesn't Google Desktop do that?
>
> It won't produce a title-list - which would be very nice - but it's free and
works well with all sorts of files.
>
> Peter
>

This was mentioned on DPRG. Other than the fact that anything that looks even
remotely like Robin Williams scares the heck out of me [cf, "uncanny valley"],
it's pretty darn interesting.

http://www.futurebots.com/walk.htm

Dan,

Why don't you take your newly acquired .net skills & write your own program to
do
that.  Maybe there's enough consistent info to direct you to the title, the
author(s), & an intro (synopsis).

From: Dan

> --- In SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Balch" <peterbalch@...>
> wrote: >
>
>
> Thanks for the pointer. I wasn't aware of it, but am checking it out.
>
> http://desktop.google.com/features.html
>
> However, I don't really need my entire HD indexed, as I already have
> zillions upon zillions of subdirectories. What is the real killer is
> having to open tons of PDF files just to find out what they are
> basically about - and which is usually adequately indicated by the
> file "title".
>
> BTW, WinXP appears to have some sort of HD indexer, which I disabled.
> I hate listening to the HD thrashing around in the background when I'm
> not accessing it. I never use search on my HD, as I have it organized
> with a billion subdirectories.

--- In SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com, "don clay" <donclay@...> wrote:
>
> Dan,
>
> Why don't you take your newly acquired .net skills & write your own program to
do > that.  Maybe there's enough consistent info to direct you to the title, the
> author(s), & an intro (synopsis).
>


Hope springs eternal that one needn't have to reinvent the wheel for every
desire.



> From: Dan
>
> > --- In SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Balch" <peterbalch@>
> > wrote: >
> >
> >
> > Thanks for the pointer. I wasn't aware of it, but am checking it out.
> >
> > http://desktop.google.com/features.html
> >
> > However, I don't really need my entire HD indexed, as I already have
> > zillions upon zillions of subdirectories. What is the real killer is
> > having to open tons of PDF files just to find out what they are
> > basically about - and which is usually adequately indicated by the
> > file "title".
> >
> > BTW, WinXP appears to have some sort of HD indexer, which I disabled.
> > I hate listening to the HD thrashing around in the background when I'm
> > not accessing it. I never use search on my HD, as I have it organized
> > with a billion subdirectories.
>

Think of it as an intellectual challenge.  <g>

From: Dan

> Hope springs eternal that one needn't have to reinvent the wheel for
> every desire.
>
>
>