Hardware Development Projects

 

	Commercial/Industrial I/O Controller with RF/IR Remote Control Commercial/Industrial I/O Controller with RF/IR Remote Control
	Industrial I/O Controller Industrial I/O Controller with Wired Remote Terminal Control
	TVR Technologies Control your lights with ANY TV Remote! Want an EASY way to take control of Home Automation?
	MIDI Interface MIDI Interface and Instrument Selector
	Printer Port I/O Controller Printer Port I/O Controller Board and Software Device Driver
	Data Grabber! Generic Data Gathering Device. Get the same features for half the price - AND - to your specification!
	Stop Thief! Digital Surveilance Camera System

 

Industrial Control

** Designed and built a number of industrial metal bending machine counters for Management control in a local manufacturing plant.
* Designed and prototyped industrial battery charging system. Programming included current control via A/D - D/A conversions, AMP/hr monitoring and storage for RS232C download to cost accounting software on PC.
* Designed and built a remote monitoring device which detects equipment failure and automatically dials up a response centre and delivers a pre-recorded message pertinent to type of failure.
** Designed and prototyped a speed monitor used to calculate and display the speed of a particle moving past two infra red sensors.
** Infra-red detection system used to detect the absence of emulsion on video tape. Used in an organisation which loads tape cartridges with bulk tape and who needed more quality control put in on their product.

 

Security

* Designed and prototyped a voice warning system for use in security systems using a microcontroller, a digital storage device for voice information and an ultrasonic motion detector.
Designed and prototyped car alarm system which shuts down ignition after 3 minutes if valid password not entered.
Designed and built power line monitoring security product to protect electrical devices from being unplugged from a standard AC outlet. This device has a small keypad for password input and peizo for alarm output.
Designed and built a dedicated beam infrared security device for alarming or chiming when the beam is broken. This product has high sensitivity, fast response and long range.

 

Telephone

* Designed & built telephone alarm message delivery system which monitor two alarm zones and calls pre-programmed numbers and delivers custom recorded messages.
* Designed and prototyped a multi function dialler for the telemarketing industry with LCD display, memory for up to 3,000 numbers and a computer interface for uploading and downloading numbers.
** Designed and built a device to monitor and display DTMF tones (Touch Tones) present on a phone line. Included were functions to store and re-display when DTMF activity was too fast for re-time viewing.
** Designed and built a telephone call diverter for a security system which received an incoming call and re-routed it via another line based on a security access code.
** Designed and prototyped a multi function Telephone Remote control. Programming included user interaction over telephone via tones with on/off control and status monitoring of 16 high voltage/current devices.
** Designed and built a product for connecting to the telephone system and the heating system of a house for controlling the heat from a telephone.
** Designed and built a telephone line monitor which mixed with the video signals from surveillance cameras and sent the mixed signal to a VCR for taping. This was an upgrade to an existing security system.
** Designed and built a product to arbitrate two devices on one phone line, preventing both devices from attempting to seize and operate on the same phone line at the same time.
** Designed and built a number of telephone line status detectors used to cut off overhead music speakers in the event of any of three telephone lines ringing or in use.

 

Custom Interface Systems

* Designed and built a number of flow monitoring devices for measuring the amount of windshield washer fluid is dispensed from Ultra Claire's windshield washer fluid dispensing machines located at gas stations around Quebec and Ontario.
** Designed and built a bell controller for the Holy Family Church to toll their bell in specific patterns as specified by the priest there.
Designed and built power line monitoring security product to protect electrical devices from being unplugged from a standard AC outlet. This device has a small keypad for password input and peizo for alarm output.
* Designed and built a remote monitoring device which detects equipment failure and automatically dials up a response centre and delivers a pre-recorded message pertinent to type of failure.
Designed and prototyped the hardware for a proprietary networking telemetry system consisting of a master monitoring unit with up to 64 slave devices from which monitoring data was done with A/D conversions and displayed at the master with D/A conversion. Also programmed the assembly language I/O drivers.
** Designed and built a digital mixer for mixing signals from a standard "PC" keyboard and an RS232C connection.
** Designed and built a printer interface/buffer allowing an old-style heavy duty proprietary interface printer to connect to a standard PC parallel port.
** Designed and built a network interface board to network up to 255 RS232 controlled camera for security in a large retail site.
** Designed and built a infrared wireless serial communications link for RS232.

 

Advertising Props (Movie, TV, Etc.)

** Designed & built a CD Player interface for use in a kiosk display case to select pre-defined programs from CD player based on labelled buttons on face of kiosk.
* Designed and prototyped an electronic price tag which is programmable and consists of a microcontroller and an LCD display which can be programmed to display price information as well as promotion messages.
** Designed and prototyped a promotion product for Pizza-Pizza which tracks how long it takes to cook a slice of pizza and involves the customer in a game associated with that.
** Designed and built 2,000 small flashing LED circuits, spec'd to last one year on 2 "AA" cells. This was used as a point of purchase promotional tool across Canada.
** Designed and built a device with LCD display and flashing lights used in a movie "Beyond the Seventh Door" as a safe cracking tool.
** Designed and built a PC controlled sound sampling and playback system used for game show sound generation.

 

MIDI Music Devices

** Designed and built the "MIDI Maestro" multi function MIDI rack-mount control panel.
Designed and prototyped a MIDI interface for MacIntosh computer's serial port.

 

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* = Own Manufacturing Rights
** = Own All Rights