I’m working on an automatic lawn irrigation system for my house. Anyway, I need some kind of optical sensor that will connect to my PC through the USB port. The purpose of this device would be to count revolutions of a wheel connected to the pump. The wheel is black and I will paint a small white spot on it for the sensor to work.
Sounds easy, but need a recommendation on a good and cheap optical sensor that will do the job. Also, how exactly to connect the sensor to the USB port and how to write the driver for this device? I have the skills (electronics, programming) but I would really appreciate any pointers to the specific information: optical sensors, connecting them to USB, and writing simple software for this kind of device.
Thank you,
Lance.
Sounds easy, but need a recommendation on a good and cheap optical sensor that will do the job. Also, how exactly to connect the sensor to the USB port and how to write the driver for this device? I have the skills (electronics, programming) but I would really appreciate any pointers to the specific information: optical sensors, connecting them to USB, and writing simple software for this kind of device.
Thank you,
Lance.