Why might I want to measure barometric pressure?

[The March Muppet]

I was reducing a bit of kit today for salvage parts at the bench and discovered an MPX-4115 silicon baro sensor on a board. Nice and easy analog I/O .. so the question: Sure, I know what it does - and I have several ICL7107s doing nothing to display the output - but I can't really think of a practical use for the thing.

I live in a fl;at part of the world, have no model rockets, and don't care about the weather.

If you had to implement one for a class project .. what might you do with it?

 

[rjenkinsgb]

A lung strength / capacity tester?

Attach it (in a casing if needed) to a small hole part way down the side of a plastic tube something like 20mm diameter and 300mm long.

It should show a pressure difference when you blow through the tube. See how much of a change people can manage, or how long they can maintain above a threshold level.

 

[alec_t]

Water depth gauge?

 

[dr pepper]

Engine manifold vacuum gauge.

 

[gophert]

The best businesses or most interesting projects solve a problem. An idea without a problem will not likely interest you enough to get out of your chair to work on it.
Put the baro-pressure sensor back in your box and remember it is there until you have a problem.

 

[The March Muppet]

You're right of course, and I'm too often just looking to build something around something I have - mostly an excuse to sit at my bench and have a pipe and a cup a few hours per week. For me kind of like of painting something (well, presumably), the creation itself the excuse.

 

[JimB]

You're right of course, and I'm too often just looking to build something around something I have - mostly an excuse to sit at my bench and have a pipe and a cup a few hours per week. For me kind of like of painting something (well, presumably), the creation itself the excuse.

Quite right, this is supposed to be some kind of a hobby.

The best part of four years ago, I built this:

It still has not been used.

Read the full story here:

A solution looking for a problem - Something I have built

This is not a request for help, it is more of a show and tell. I have commented several times here on ETO, that my bench DVM and frequency counter both have a GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus) built in. This allows a PC with a suitable control program to control the instruments and...

www.electro-tech-online.com

JimB

 

[DrG]

and don't care about the weather

Yeah, everybody says that until they don't have any

 

[DrG]

Using them for an altimeter is popular. Not just in drones but even to detect where you are in a tall building https://www.azosensors.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=601 [which sounded to me like a solution looking for a problem) or simply a GPS complement.

They have found their way into various "sports wearables" to assist with motion and movement.

I would think that they could be used as a tool in detecting positive and negative pressures in rooms, and for balancing.

In some cases, they are important for using with other sensors that require some kind of pressure compensations.

 

[DrG]

Quite right, this is supposed to be some kind of a hobby.

The best part of four years ago, I built this:
View attachment 122323
It still has not been used.

Read the full story here:

A solution looking for a problem - Something I have built

This is not a request for help, it is more of a show and tell. I have commented several times here on ETO, that my bench DVM and frequency counter both have a GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus) built in. This allows a PC with a suitable control program to control the instruments and...

www.electro-tech-online.com

JimB

I read all of that JimB thanks for the share.

First off, I was very impressed by the housing and the explanation - I love reading about that and there is relatively little about developing those skills (which I am so deficient at). I have to mention that because it looks so good.

But, what is your bottom line, philosophically. Since "this is supposed to be some kind of a hobby", it is fine to do a project because you can and you feel like it, or should more attention be paid to what is being solved, even with "some kind of a hobby"?

 

[JimB]

March Muppet, I seem to have started a bit of a thread hijack here and diverted the topic under discussion.
Should I split out the relevant posts and start a thread about "some kind of a hobby"?

DrG comments:

But, what is your bottom line, philosophically. Since "this is supposed to be some kind of a hobby", it is fine to do a project because you can and you feel like it, or should more attention be paid to what is being solved, even with "some kind of a hobby"?

I am not sure that I have a "bottom line, philosophically".
Being retired I can do things that interest me when I want to do them.
One underlying principle I have is that if I do something, I will do it as well as I can so that I am happy/proud to show it to others who may have better skills than I do.

Some things that I do have an immediate application, for example I am currently (slowly) building a control box for a new three phase motor for my lathe.
The box has to be electrically safe (provide connections for emergency stop switches) and mechanically safe (keep the little bits of swarf out of the inverter).

Other things, like the GPIB digital I/O box and multiplexer, while not having an immediate application, were a good learning exercise as I was designing and building.

JimB

 

[gophert]

... or should more attention be paid to what is being solved, even with "some kind of a hobby"?

I tend to do whatever today's whimsy I prefer. I like to make Rube Goldberg- style clocks so all practicality is out the window in mechanical appearance but quite practical in setting and accuracy. Other projects? It seems like I optimize in terms of using bits I have on hand, how hard I want to work, how much time I have and what the end user wants (generally in that order of decreasing importance of my optimization weightings ).