RowingMunkeyCU
New Member
Hey guys, first post here and I'm working on a project and trying to determine the changes needed to an existing project to make mine work. I'm not as familiar with electronics as I'd like (I'm a software engineer) so I know I have a lot to learn.
What I'm trying to do is monitor approximately 20 separate temperature sensors (thermistors) and control 20 separate heating devices (FlexWatt heat tape). The sensors/heating devices are to be in a 1:1 ratio. Each sensor/heating device pair should operate independently from the rest.
The project that I'm working from is:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
So the main question is how can I expand the number of sensors that the project is using to the number I'd like to use (~20)?
1. I see that each thermistor occupies 2 channels on the ADC (8 channels)which limits it to a max of 4 sensors. 'Bigger' (40 channel) ADC or multiple ADCs?
2. Since there is a limit to the number of control signals output from the parallel port, what's the possibility of running it over USB and using a demux of some sort to control the heaters?
Thanks in advance!
What I'm trying to do is monitor approximately 20 separate temperature sensors (thermistors) and control 20 separate heating devices (FlexWatt heat tape). The sensors/heating devices are to be in a 1:1 ratio. Each sensor/heating device pair should operate independently from the rest.
The project that I'm working from is:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**
So the main question is how can I expand the number of sensors that the project is using to the number I'd like to use (~20)?
1. I see that each thermistor occupies 2 channels on the ADC (8 channels)which limits it to a max of 4 sensors. 'Bigger' (40 channel) ADC or multiple ADCs?
2. Since there is a limit to the number of control signals output from the parallel port, what's the possibility of running it over USB and using a demux of some sort to control the heaters?
Thanks in advance!