Welcome to Berytech Fab Lab

+961 4 533 040 ext. 1029 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Mon-Fri)

Input Devices

So the objective of this week is to get introduced to using input devices. Input devices could be anything that send a signal or data to a microcontroller, which could be either digital or analog. There are many input devices in the market that could be used to gather data and connect the electronics system to the outside world. Those input devices could be a switch, distance sensors (Ultrasonic or Infrared), magnetic sensors, temperature sensor, light sensor, accelerometers and gyro sensors, sound sensors (microphones), vibration sensors, cameras and much more. Technically everything you see in all the equipment and machines you use in your daily life, like the iphone. In this section, we will learn on how to use and connect a sensor to a microcontroller, and how to use it to collect data from its surrounding.

Group Assinment
The group assginment was to Measure the analog levels and digital signals in an input device.

An input device is any hardware device that sends data to a computer, allowing you to interact with and control it. The picture shows a Logitech trackball mouse, which is an example of an input device.
The main machine used in this week's assignment are the following

  • Roland MDX-40 is the Desktop CNC machine used to mill copper boards.
  • Tektonix TBS 1052B is the oscilloscope used to observe the operation of the microcontroller circuit board.
  • National Instruments VirtualBench was used as a digital oscilloscope to observe and document the operation of the microcontroller circuit board.
  • FLUKE 179 was the multimeter used throughout all the process.
  • ProsKit SS 207 was the soldering iron used for welding the components.

Measuring the Analog Levels and Digital Signals in an input

In this group assignment we are going to read an analog input on the Tektronix TBS1052B Digital Oscilloscope.

Analog Read

We connected an LDR sensor to the board with the positive probe to the LDR and the negative probe to the GND. In the video we can see the values changing on the oscilloscope screen depending on the light intensity.

Digital Read

We connected a push button to the board with the positive probe to the button and the negative probe to the GND. In the video we can see the values changing on the oscilloscope screen when we click the button.