TLHarrell wrote:I'll toss in my 2 cents on this...
How much does the monitor weigh? I would seriously consider adding a lever and some springs, or something else to provide counterweight to support the joints if you want them to be tight but movable.
The ATX power supply will need some modification to supply power. Usually this involves placing a large resistor across part of the supply to create a load condition. Most power supplies like this will not turn on without seeing a load. Run a Google search on using an ATX PSU as a benchtop power supply for electronics. It's a fairly common hack.
On the inline flow sensor, you could simply hook it up to an LED. If the LED is flashing, you have flow. Solid on, or off = not good. Unless you like adding Arduinos...
I'm no expert by a long shot, but figured it'd help to think of these items a bit.
Hey thanks for the ideas!
The monitor only weights about 10 lbs. The joint I am most concerned about is the elbow. I am sure that the clamps will be able to lock the joint, but I dont' want the monitor to fall if I ulock them. I've thought about using a spring/lever arm to help support the joints, but I am not sure that this is what I want to use. I've also thought about a momentary switch and some sort of solinoid or motor to unlock the joints... the idea is that you grab the monitor with both hands, push the momentary switch (mounted on the back near where your hands grab it) which acts to release the joint, you move it to a new position, release the momentary switch, and the thing just stays there. I would have to use some springs to lock the joint and have a powered mechanism to unlock the joint so that if the power is lost, the joint says locked. I haven't come up with the mechanics to do this yet, but I've been kicking around some ideas.
I knew about the ATX issue from times past workign on diagnosing problems with PC's. I don't recal which wires need connections, but I knew that was on the internet too.
The idea of a visual/audio alarm is something I have been thinking about too. Eventually, I want to use the arduino I already have as a modbuss/brains connection to Mach 3. The arduino will handle reading the flow rates and passing the info to Mach3 which will display the flow rate on a DRO. I will probably also add a LED and/or a buzzer to alert me if the flow fails.
I also found some very inexpensive analog temperature sensors on spark fun (thermistors, diodes etc). I can read the voltage with an arduino and calibrate in software. I can read the temp in several places and display that info as well. I just need a little thermal epoxy to set the sensors in place.