Controlling your parallel port in a simpler manner..
Yes this method is quite simpler than making programs in MATLAB or C.
- YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A PROGRAMMING EXPERT FOR USING THIS.
- IT IS VERY VERY USER FRIENDLY.
- WITH JUST A SIMPLE CLICK OF BUTTONS YOU CAN CONTROL AN EXTERNAL DEVICE USING YOUR COMPUTER.
Download this program from the following link... It is Relais Timer.. And don't be afraid of downloading it. It isn't spam. I downloaded it too, and it works perfectly fine.
http://www.zoekelektronica.nl/software/relaistimer11.exe
Measuring Temperature
Here is this IC(LM35). You can use this to measure surrounding temperature. It has an output voltage that is proportional to the Celsius temperature.
That is,
(the voltage given by the output pin of this IC) * 100 = Temperature in degree celcius..
The scale factor is .01V/oC and covers a quite good range of 0 oC to +100 oC.
Just give +5V to the +Vc pin ( otherwise the range may be 4-30V ) and ground to the middle pin.
Ra = Vc /10-6
Actually, it can range from 80 Kilo ohm to 600 Kilo ohm , but most just use 80 Kilo ohm.
You can connect the output of LM35 to to the ADC of your microcontroller and display it on an LCD.
Or you may use RS232 to get it displayed on your computer.
Introduction to parallel port
The computer parallel port is the easiest way to control devices outside the PC, like LEDs, lights and even home appliances.In fact the idea behind parallel port is really simple. It is an 8-bit parallel interface, so you have eight bits available there. Simple put, since each data bit can be set as either “0” (“turned off”) or “1” (“turned on”), we can directly turn on or off up to eight devices, like LEDs, lights and even home appliances. You can connect LEDs direclty to the parallel port and play with them. I did play with them.
And trust me its very interesting and enjoyable to control something with computer.
So, all you need to do is to connect the positive terminal( longer leg) of the LED to any one of the pins (2-9) and the other to any of the pins from 18-25. Pins 18-25 are ground pins and are internally shorted in your computer. Pins 2-9 are data pins and you can give 0V or 3V to them through programming. So when you give a +3V to the pin to which you have connected the LED's longer leg, there is a potential difference created across it and it starts to glow.
Its a common practice to put a resistance (1K) in series with the LED so that it does not burn.
There are many programs to operate your parallel port pins. Just explore the internet for further information.
And yes, you can always use MATLAB and C too.
I will recommend MATLAB for this purpose. So, ALL THE BEST.....