I made stuff do stuff!

Picture 1
Originally uploaded by difusion11.

As a computer science major and U of M, and pretty much everywhere else, you only learn how to program for the normal, general use computer. And it makes sense that they teach this. But I've always wondered how to program physical things, such as robots or choreographed fountains or light shows etc...

Well, this year in my embedded control systems class I am finally learning how to program physical systems. An embedded system is anything with a processor in it besides a normal laptop/desktop type computer. Like a car, or a dish washer, or a vehicle on the Spiderman ride at Islands of Adventure. Without a hardware background, the lectures and more theoretical work has been challenging. But every wednesday we have a 4 hour lab in which we get to write a program to learn something about embedded systems.

We've made LEDs light up in response to some basic math, measured how fast a wheel is spinning, and done variations on those. Most recently, we created a force feedback system to simulate a spring resisting the turning of a wheel. In lab we have a wooden wheel connected by a chain to a motor. We read the position of the wheel, and the further someone turns the wheel, the harder the motor pushes in the opposite direction. So it really feels like a spring is holding it back. When the program isn't running the wheel turns freely, excepting friction. Force feedback is used in simulations (such as flight or surgery), as well as in Telerobotics.

I wanted to write this post a long time ago, but have yet to take a picture of our lab setting. This diagram of your basic spring system will have to do.