I'm aware of Phidgets, however, I'm looking for some other types of hardware that can be interfaced with C#.
Anyone got some good ones?
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A:
Actually Lego Mindstorms kits are cheap and have a lot of different libraries to code in. Microsoft Robotics for example. More info can be pulled from this article. My experience with Lego Mindstorms was before the NXT versions and using C however it was a great and challenging time. I may even look into grabbing a kit now that this popped up..
Pat
2010-04-29 05:17:24
+1
A:
Take a look at my "World's Smartest House Project" http://blog.abodit.com/category/home-automation/smartest-house/ as featured on .NET Rocks #518.
It's written in C# and interfaces to X10, thermostats, alarm panels, a multi-zone audio switcher, a projector, Denon amplifiers, driveway sensors, strain gauges, and much more ...
A Caddx alarm panel is about the cheapest sensor input device you can connect to a PC - one serial port gets you 100+ inputs both wireless and wired.
Hightechrider
2010-04-29 05:24:54
It still uses serial ports?!
UpTheCreek
2010-04-29 05:37:05
The overall system uses USB, serial ports and Ethernet. Many devices only provide RS-232 or RS-485 communications so serial is the ONLY way to communicate with them. For a hard-wired system like this serial ports are actually the most reliable comms of all!The CADDX Alarm panel uses serial comms yes, and unlike most hardware vendors they actually have a good protocol.
Hightechrider
2010-04-29 06:01:14
A:
Advantech has a nice set of USB IO boxes that can be interfaced with anything hardware. They have a nice native .net framework with examples in C#.
The one I'm using is to control a robotic workcell I'm developing: http://www.advantech.com/products/USB-4751/mod_1-2MLJNA.aspx
Padu Merloti
2010-04-29 22:10:13