Dawn Simulator Device Hardware

Microcontroller:

The heart of the device is a Basic Micro BASICAtom microcontroller module, which is a pin-compatible, and mostly software-compatible clone of the Parallax BASICStamp module. I chose the BASICAtom because it has a buffered hardware serial port. The Stamp and other modules must read the serial port in software, meaning that the program must be listening to the serial port at the time a character comes in. The Atom's hardware serial port stores characters in a buffer, which may be read when the software gets around to it.

I used the 24-pin version, which provides 16 I/O pins (I used them all). Please refer to the PDF-format system schematic for details, and be aware that only the 16 I/O pins of the Atom are shown. The Atom is powered by 5VDC.

I built the system on the Basic ATOM LCD Enclosure Board using the "Bare Board Parts Kit". I bought this before I realized that their layout of Atom I/O pins for the LCD display made no sense. So I didn't use the main advertised capability. On the other hand, it has really nice power distribution that their other boards don't have (as I found on my next project after this one).

DC-Controlled Lamp Dimmer:

I used a Velleman K8064 DC-Controlled Dimmer Kit to control the AC voltage provided to a connected incandescent lamp. The dimmer is controlled by a 0-10VDC input signal and can power up to 375Watts of incandescent lighting. Velleman's tech support told me that the K8064 provides 256 light levels, which are linear over the 0-10VDC input range, although my experience was a bit different.

Digital-to-Analog Converter:

I used a Maxim MX7224N DAC chip to convert binary numbers from Atom I/O pins to DC levels. I had to purchase this chip directly from Maxim (paying handling charges as well as shipping), as I couldn't find a low-volume source. I could have used the hardware Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) capabilities of the Atom to generate DC voltages, but I wanted an accurate, latched DC voltage to provide to the DC-Controlled dimmer to provide constant voltages independent of software.

The MX7224N has an 8-bit input, for 256 output levels. To converve I/O pins on the Atom, and to keep DC levels well within the maximum error of the MX7224N, I used the 6 most significant input bits for data and tied the lower 2 bits high, to provide 64 input levels. I connected Pin 17 high and Pins 14/16 low, so that data could enter the MX7224N simply by lowering Pin 15, then be latched in by raising Pin 15.

The MX7224N data sheet states that the voltage at Pin 3 (which supplies the power for the output voltage) should be at least 2 volts less than the power supply voltage for accurate output levels. Since I needed a 0-10VDC output range, I ran the MX7224 off 12VDC and regulated down to 10VDC for Pin 3.

LCD Display:

I used a Tianma TM162YBC6 2x16 LCD display, which I purchased from the Basic Micro website. It uses a Hitatchi 44780-compatible controller, making it compatible with the Atom's built-in LCD commands. Pin connections are as shown on the system schematic. The schematic shows a 10kOhm potentiometer, intended to set the LCD contract level, but I hooked Pin 3 to ground for maximum contrast.

RS-232 Interface:

I used a MAX232 chip (made by several manufacturers, mine was by Texas Instruments--Google "MAX232" to find a vendor) to convert 0-5VDC TTL levels on Atom I/O pins to the RS-232 voltages to interface with other systems to control the device. Using 10uF capacitors (be REAL careful about capacitor polarity-a reversed capacitor shorts out the power supply), the MAX232 provides around +10VDC and -10VDC output levels to the RS-232 interface from the 5VDC power supply.

SitePlayer Telnet System:

While the Dawn Simulator device was designed to communicate with the PC software using a serial port, the idea of connecting a PC on the first floor of our house to a device located in a second floor bedroom wasn't attractive. The NetMedia SitePlayer Telnet System extends RS-232 connectivity across a Telnet (TCP port 23) connection. Once a Telnet connection is established to the Siteplayer, bytes sent across the connection are forwarded directly to the attached serial device and vice versa. For $80, the Siteplayer solves a lot of connectivity problems. Aside from assigning an IP address and such to the Siteplayer, the only configuration change I made was to the "Retry Period" setting on the "Telnet Configuration" screen. I set it to zero, so the SitePlayer will start listening for a new connection immediately after a connection fails or disconnects.

Cancel/Override Switch:

A normally-open SPST pushbutton switch provides a way to manually control the device.

Power Supply:

An Omron S82K series, 12VDC, 0.6A power supply provides DC power for the electronics. Since we live on the side of a mountain and have lost equipment to lightning strikes, the power supply is isolated from the AC line voltage with an American Power Conversion LE600 Automatic Voltage Regulator (cheap protection at $45 each). DC Power from the power supply is split out as follows:

Physical Construction

The following picture shows the internal construction of the device. It's installed in an enclosure from LMB Heeger.

The components in the above picture are as follows:

The next picture is a close-up view of the BASICAtom board.

The components in the above picture are as follows:

The following picture shows the front panel of the device. The LCD display and Cancel/Override switch are visible in this view.

The following picture shows the rear panel of the device, showing the RJ-45 passthrough, Power Entry Module, and NEMA 5-15R outlets.

Suppliers

Except where mentioned otherwise above, I purchased most all my parts from Mouser Electronics. Their selection is wide, prices are reasonable, and they have data sheets for most parts available online (they'll also send a free paper catalog for browsing). A few parts (Capacitors, switch, RJ-45 coupler, PC board terminals, and standoffs) were bought from my local Radio Shack and I obtained the LCD bezel from Scott Edwards Electronics (Sorry Scott! I forgot to countersink the holes, so it doesn't lay correctly).

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