11-05-2011, 02:31 PM
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A Real-Time Generic Hardware Interfacing Board For Java
Idea
XWiring is a physical computing platform with a sophisticated I/O board and a development environment utilizing a Java Processing style language for programming microcontrollers.
XWiring is same as a microcontroller kit but provides hardware feedback via serial/USB port. I.e. The hardware being controlled by the board can be visualized on a personal computer. XWiring extends complex microcontroller kits by transferring lot of application load to the software side. The user can actually control all the machines, devices using a PC. XWiring can be driven in various modes using simple commands given to it over a PC.
XWiring uses a Rs232 Serial Interface or a USB based interface to communicate with the PC. XWiring can be used very efficiently for implementing a Data Acquisition System, Data Logging System, Device Interface, Hardware Controller, Motor Controller, PWM Generator, etc.
It can collect analog values from sensors like heat sensors, light sensors, etc. and transfer them to the PC where the data can be stored into files and processed. Various graphs can be generated based on the collected analog data. The on-board ADC is used to convert the analog data into digital form.
Sample Applications
• Digital Signal Processing
• Hardware Control Using PC
• PWM Generation
• Analog Data Acquisition System
• Electrical/Electronic Device Control Using PC
• Data Logger
• Feedback Systems
• Hardware Monitoring Systems
Basic Requirements
• XWiring I/O board
• Serial Interface
• USB drivers for USB board
• the XWiring IDE (Java)
• the D-25 Parallel Interface
Software Implementation
A Java based application will be designed to control the XWiring board. The application can be used to drive the board in various pre-programmed modes like Motor driver, Data Acquisition Systems, etc. Moreover the software can be used to drive the board using user-defined instructions or programs. These are specially designed instructions for the board. The instructions are kept as simple as possible so that even a novice user who has absolutely no idea about assembly language can program the hardware.
