tim.haywardbrown_at_rocketmail.com wrote:
>
>
> > If I just would find a load sensor,
> > that I could attach to a handheld computer;
>
> Hi Tapio
>
> maybe you could adapt / pull apart a cheapie digi-gem scale like this one:
>
> Digital Jewelry Diamond Pocket Gem Scale
> http://cgi.ebay.com.au/0-001g-20g-ct-Digital-Jewelry-Diamond-Pocket-Mini-Scale_W0QQitemZ250589631004QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Business_Industrial_Medical_Scientific_Equipment2?hash=item3a584e521c
> <http://cgi.ebay.com.au/0-001g-20g-ct-Digital-Jewelry-Diamond-Pocket-Mini-Scale_W0QQitemZ250589631004QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Business_Industrial_Medical_Scientific_Equipment2?hash=item3a584e521c>
>
> I have one which cost about $22 Australian including postage. It reads
> 0.001g - 20g (or about 0.7oz max) which may not be enough. It switches
> easily between Oz/grams. There are heaps of others if you look around.
> I'm sure calibration is not accurate as the better ones of course - but
> might be worth experimenting with. I read the info on the digital torque
> meter with interest also and will definately give it a go myself! Would
> be very interested in how you link to a computer to create torque graphs...
Thanks for the link! I have similar scale, bought from DealExtreme, it
is a good thing to know that there are also other sources. That one
works good for weighting F1D parts. However, I think a scale up to 100
grams would make a better torque meter.
About hacking it... Those scales use strain gauges inside, having first
an amplifier to increase the signal, and then a driver for the digital
display. If you could find inside the point where the amplified reading
is fed to the display driver, you probably could tap in and get the data
to put out to a computer. But it may turn complicated, espacially if
there is inside an integrated chip to do both amplifying and display
control. Have to open one and see....
Tony was worried about the scales locking to a reading... In my
experience with the new cheapo scales, this is not an implemented
feature. Rather, if the weight changes (like trying to weight a full
model when there is drift present), the reading rather changes all the
time. There is an indicator when the scale thinks the weight has
stabilized, but once there is movement, it starts to change readings
again. So should work OK for a torque meter.
-Tapio-
Received on Wed Apr 21 2010 - 23:09:24 CEST