Senior Project is Finished!!!

[Griefmaker]

Hey all!!

I just wanted to shout out my joy that my senior project is FINISHED !! After 18 months, 640 hours of work, and $2400, the stupid thing is done!

I have had that project hanging over my head for, well, 18 bloody months now. Now I can sit back and relax because the rest of the semester will be cake!

Now all I need to do is find a good job... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Ilander]

Would it be wrong of me to inquire what this project was? I doubt any of us could reverse engineer it in time to mess with you

Congrats on finishing it, though!

[Eagle eye]

Very big it must be...yes..very big

[Bozos of Bones]

Build a better mouse trap? [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Congrats on the project being finished!

[Griefmaker]

Thanks all! Actually, the project was not very big, but it was very involved. I created an RS-232 or RS-485 to USB 1.1 converter. It also converter the signal back to either RS-232 or RS-485, depending on what was connected to the converter.

What took so long was trying to get the project to pass the requirements: full signal conversion with no data degredation or data loss, a speed of 19.2k baud minimum, max power consumption from the circuitry of 300 mA (this is so that the converter can power a device and supply up to 600 mA of current, the device had to be plug and play, plus there were a few other requirements that I cannot remember right now.

I had almost all of the requirements met about 6 months ago, but the power requirements and speed were giving me problems until recently.

Anyway, I am glad that is done so that I can now camp out, have a beer, relax, and finally play a few video games again! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Xen]

I really, really, really have no idea what are you talking about but I'll say it anyway: congratulations!

[Iron Greasel]

I think it's some gadget that goes to the USB port. More complicated than anything I could build. Congrats.

[Bozos of Bones]

What did you use to control the current?
Yes, all you described seems simple enough except for the 19.2 buad transfer and holding the current. Well, I think I could take care of teh current with some thyristors and a coil here or there, but the transfer rate? Do tell.

[Bungleau]

Congrats on completing it! Now... is this something that Joe Consumer might be interested in? If so, is it worth patenting? Or selling the rights (once it's patented)?

[Griefmaker]

Bozos, all I did to control the current was fuse the project fuse the project with a 900mA fuse (I know, it's an uncommon rating) and make sure that all components's maximum current requirements and current used to power an attached device(plus 15% saftey buffer) did not max out past 900mA. The problem I had here was that the circuitry was supposed to only draw 300mA max. I struggled to find ways to reduce components which in turn reduced power consumption.

The transfer rate was a little trickier. I used a PIC18F452 that was run off a 20MHz oscillator (max speed that PIC can handle). The USART that the serial signals went into on the PIC was configured for 19.2k baud--that was the easy part. The USB side required me to create a working protocol that was faster than the transfer rate, which was then delayed in the software so that it performed at 19.2k baud. The problem that I had was keeping my USB protocol efficient enough so that I could get the 19.2k baud transfer rate.

Bungleau, as far as patenting and all that, there are already other (and better) devices out there that do what my project does. Most people who produce this product do not use a PIC to translate the signals because it is too inefficient and slow. I would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would like to buy the rights to this device. If someone would though, it would be happy land for me! [img]smile.gif[/img]