I bought a copy of Servo Magazine and was pleasantly surprise to
find a new computer that can be programed in the English
language. I don't like programming languages that use characters
like this to mean extensive operations. &^%$#@()&{}][
Computers are smart enough so you can talk to them by typing on the
keyboard an English word and they will do what you tell them to do.
Here is an example "PRINT" We all know what
that means and what it does.
Here are some more examples. READ, FORMAT, PAUSE, RETURN.
LOCATE. Now the vocabulary only needs to be about 100 words or less but
they are easy to remember. It does not have to be just one word. It could
be whole sentence. That would lead to a lot more typing so in general it
is limited to just one word. This makes a lot more sense than a bunch
of hieroglyphic symbols hard to remember.
The computer is called the Mentor's Friend. Cost is $80. It use a PC
keyboard and a VGA monitor. Just about any monitor that will connect to
a desk top
computer. So far there is not a version for a smart phone or tablet yet but
there could be.
For machine control the smart phone problem is; there are no wires
coming out of the phone or tablet for turning motors on and off or
activating ignition systems or fuel injectors. So that is why you need a
computer like
this. It uses an SD card just like your smart phone for storing
information. Your phone stores aps just like this computer stores
programs that control hard ware.
I will be getting one and playing around with it. It works just like the
Maximite so I will compare to the over all ability of these two
computers to
control hardware. Speed is essential when you have an engine running at
8,000 RPM.
They are so cheap you could use one of each rotor or even two for each
rotor. One for ignition and one for fuel injection. This would be great
for an
aircraft engine as if one rotor quit you could land with just one rotor
operating.
Paul Lamar
Correction. The computer is called an Amigo. Here is an introduction
to the programming language. The best way to learn it is do it trial
and error fashion. You can't break it :-) Think of each output pin
as a wire with an on and off switch on the computer end. Turn it on
you get 5 volts. Turn it off you get zero volts.
Paul Lamar
Who sales it?
David M.
San Jose, CA
Nuts & Volts online Store
http://store.nutsvolts.com/index.php?p=catalog&mode=search&search_in=name&search_str=Amigo&x=0&y=0
I do not have the foggiest idea how to program a multi core processor.
-------------------------------------------------------------
So I am going to use my Maximite.
Here is a schematic. Super simple closed loop with an ecotran O2 sensor
I will use a throttle position sensor for rapid acceleration sensing.
Tracy spent a lot of code doing that before he added a throttle by wire.
The TTC Motec has a throttle by wire for that reason I think.
The LM1815 is a great chip that cleans up the Crank Angle Sensor and
puts out a simple pulse at 22 degrees BTDC. That is sent to the M&W
capacitor
discharge ignition system and immediately fires two plugs.
The Maximite also senses that pulse and goes off and
determines the mixture with the O2 sensor and then
calculates the correct injector pulse width for each RPM.
Timed fuel injection in other words. The next rotor face is in the
intake cycle at that time and that gets the fuel.
Super simple. If the throttle position changed after the last engine
rotation it must be acceleration plus or minus so the mixture
will be adjusted for that.
At 8000 RPM you have 8 ms to do this which is plenty of time
for the Maximite.
The program will be a couple of pages at the most.
As opposed to 256 pages of Tracy's asm code :-)
I have a one cylinder 4 stroke 3 HP engine that is powering
an alternator. I will remove the carb.
That will be my electric dyno. The load for
the dyno will be head light bulbs or any other 12 volt
load. Measure the voltage and the current and you know
the HP.
I will install the EFI on that for testing. Better than a fixed pitch
prop as the load can be varied over a range of RPM's.
In other words a poor man's (me) dyno.
Paul Lamar
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