is it possible to interface Microcontroller to Vb.NET?

[reaver26]

hello everyone, i just want to ask of its possible to interface Micro Controller to PC (vb.net)

the micro controller will be dependent on the server database.

just want to gather information on how to do it.

where trying to create an electronic lock door with 6digit pin code for access

and each individual has its unique 6 digit pin which they had input on the server.


is this possible? and lastly on the event of power interruption how can i get the data encoded by the users on the keypad if during those times the server is down. someone told me that i used an external multimedia card linked to the MCU under Fat16 format. i have no clue of that. hope you could suggest better ways to do it.


this would be my final project before i graduate. thank you

 

[Hero.sl]

Interfacing a micro controller to a PC is possible. There are many ways of doing that. You can use a wired link or a wireless link as you prefer. Connecting via the PC serial port to a UART of the MCU is the simplest way I think. And yes you can use .NET for this purpose. I don't have much experience with VB, but you definitely can using C#.

Obtaining the pin code from the microcontroller and looking up in the database will not be a heavy task and that depends on your VB skills..

On the event of a power interruption, your microcontroller program can get to know it and then it can save user inputs in its NVRAM and once the power is up it can send those info to the pc. This is just an idea, there might be different ways of achieving this task.

I just answered your questions.. Post YOUR design ideas here and I'll try to help you as much as I can.

 

[Pommie]

As already mentioned, the easiest way would be RS232 (UART). However, because of your power failure concerns I would store the access codes on the pic. An 887 has 8k words of flash and a 6 digit code would occupy 2 words. So, if your code requires half the memory you could store 2000 codes on the pic itself. You could then just use the PC to add/remove codes and keep the log of entries.

If you must have data logging during power cuts then I would suggest a serial eeprom to hold the data.

Mike.

 

[reaver26]

Interfacing a micro controller to a PC is possible. There are many ways of doing that. You can use a wired link or a wireless link as you prefer. Connecting via the PC serial port to a UART of the MCU is the simplest way I think. And yes you can use .NET for this purpose. I don't have much experience with VB, but you definitely can using C#.

Obtaining the pin code from the microcontroller and looking up in the database will not be a heavy task and that depends on your VB skills..

On the event of a power interruption, your microcontroller program can get to know it and then it can save user inputs in its NVRAM and once the power is up it can send those info to the pc. This is just an idea, there might be different ways of achieving this task.

I just answered your questions.. Post YOUR design ideas here and I'll try to help you as much as I can.

Post YOUR design ideas here and I'll try to help you as much as I can.

Honestly speaking we still dont have the design as of now... we cant even come up on the schematic diagram of it... for nearly a month now i've been surfing the net for idea and possible schematic diagram of it, but until now NO accomplishment.

recently my group had decided about the power interruption situation. in cases it will occur, stand alone setup will be use. like administrator key will bypass door locking system, thus it will serve as login/logout of the users on the said room.

this video is somewhat near our project:
YouTube - Electronic Lock PIC16F877A


currently where trying to create a program on C using an MPLAB IDE program compiler/debugger

where hoping if someone can share a codes on C that we might study on it and get the idea how to create our own.

and also how to interface it on Vb.net using seril port(not sure of it).

i'm really a newbie on this.

on our MCU where going to use:

MCU parts:
3x4 keypad
serial cable (between PC and MCU)
solenoid magnet for door lock
solenoid magnet(buzzer) for alarm


VB.net:
manual override in cases of malfunction on MCU
monitor mode ( to check if room is lock/ unlock)
room scheduler ( to input new schedules)


thats all our idea for now.

thank you for the replies. where hoping for more

 

[Hero.sl]

Ok tell me whether you agree with me.

Once a user enters the pin code, it will be directed to the pc using the serial cable. The software waiting for an input from the MCU will receive it. And the code will be checked against a list of available codes in a server. The result will be sent back to the microcontroller. If the code is correct,the microcontroller will open the attached door lock. If the code is incorrect, the user will be notified.

The MCU will be monitoring the power line for an interruption. Once such an event occurred, it will stop communicating with the pc. Instead it will use the stored admin password in its flash to check with a user input.

Is this the scenario ur talking about? This is the idea I got from what you said. Correct me if im wrong.. I'm not an expert either..

 

[Pommie]

Unless this is for a huge campus with thousands of students then it make no sense to keep the keys on a PC, just keep them on the pic. If it happens that you have more than 2000 entry codes then get a bigger pic.

On the other hand, logging the entries with a PC makes sense as does entering and deleting pass numbers.

Mike.

 

[reaver26]

Ok tell me whether you agree with me.

Once a user enters the pin code, it will be directed to the pc using the serial cable. The software waiting for an input from the MCU will receive it. And the code will be checked against a list of available codes in a server. The result will be sent back to the microcontroller. If the code is correct,the microcontroller will open the attached door lock. If the code is incorrect, the user will be notified.

The MCU will be monitoring the power line for an interruption. Once such an event occurred, it will stop communicating with the pc. Instead it will use the stored admin password in its flash to check with a user input.

Is this the scenario ur talking about? This is the idea I got from what you said. Correct me if im wrong.. I'm not an expert either..

everything you stated are correct. that's all the scenarios that will occur on the said system

 

[reaver26]

Unless this is for a huge campus with thousands of students then it make no sense to keep the keys on a PC, just keep them on the pic. If it happens that you have more than 2000 entry codes then get a bigger pic.

On the other hand, logging the entries with a PC makes sense as does entering and deleting pass numbers.

Mike.

this will only apply to the faculty users. it will not apply on the students. this will mainly focus on computer laboratories which in past events, theft usually occurs and to minimize that we think of it as a solution. but following the SOP of the school. faculty would be the first to go in and to be the last to come out of that particular room.

 

[reaver26]

any updates? i just want to know how to do it. i have all the idea on my mind but i dont know whow to start it.

i hope someone could help me.


i want to make a system in VB.NET(2008) that could able to retrieve integer values from Microsoft SQL server 2005 database and convert it to binary codes and transmit via serial port.