Infrared Lamps Rig Control

Hi All,

I'm a university student and as part of my research I need to construct an infrared rig with 10 to 12 lamps. Each lamp can be controlled separately,so they can be turn on/off and change their intensity with time. The control system should be standalone and can be connected to external computer to specify the control parameters.

I need your advice which type of controller should I use (Raspberry PI or Arduino) and is their any resources I can refer.

Thanks

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kidiccurus over 10 years ago in reply to Former Member +1

Unless you need internet functionality a raspberry pi is probably overkill. If you developed using an Arduino Uno you can transfer the programming to a separate atmega microcontroller with the correct…

0 gadget.iom over 10 years ago

Sounds like an interesting project. What have you got so far?
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0 clem57 over 10 years ago

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12646 is a great low cost ARM board in a small package. It is breadboard friendly backed by tutorials at the site. 4 timers enable a lot of control. The only downside I see is the export control restrictions to some countries.For programming see Teensyduino - Add-on for Arduino IDE to use Teensy USB development board with a comparison to Arduino Leonardo. For the typical blinking LED checkout Teensyduino Tutorial #1: Software Setup for Teensy on Arduino IDE And here are libraries ready to choose Teensyduino: Using Arduino Libraries with Teensy USB development board

Clem
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0 Former Member over 10 years ago in reply to gadget.iom

HI, I just collecting ideas formthe controller.
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0 Former Member over 10 years ago in reply to clem57

Thank you. These are very helpful
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0 kidiccurus over 10 years ago in reply to Former Member

Unless you need internet functionality a raspberry pi is probably overkill. If you developed using an Arduino Uno you can transfer the programming to a separate atmega microcontroller with the correct boot loader and embed it into your design with a crystal and a few caps. The big problem with embedding is that it makes serial communication with the PC much harder, but a cheap USB to serial adapter could solve this problem and allow you to a just parameters in your programming from a serial terminal. As for dimming, PWM is your friend, but you need to use a transistor to control a high currant device like a moderate sized lamp.
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0 D_Hersey over 10 years ago

Since IR lamps run off of the line, you probably want to use something like an SSR rather than a transistor. Unless you are slewing your load at a high rate (not a good idea anyway) consider putting an inrush surge limiter in series with your bulbs. When the filaments are cold they can be of low resistance.
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