DST1001 User Guide

Part 1: Setup

Welcome to the DST1001 user guide! In order to get started, make sure you have the following hardware on hand:

• DST1001 - Distance Phidget
• VINT Hub
• Phidget cable
• USB cable and computer

Next, you will need to connect the pieces:

1. Connect the DST1001 to the VINT Hub using the Phidget cable.
2. Connect the VINT Hub to your computer with a USB cable.

Now that you have everything together, let's start using the DST1001!

Phidget Control Panel

In order to demonstrate the functionality of the DST1001, the Phidget Control Panel running on a Windows machine will be used.

The Phidget Control Panel is available for use on both macOS and Windows machines.

Windows

To open the Phidget Control Panel on Windows, find the icon in the taskbar. If it is not there, open up the start menu and search for Phidget Control Panel

macOS

To open the Phidget Control Panel on macOS, open Finder and navigate to the Phidget Control Panel in the Applications list. Double click on the icon to bring up the Phidget Control Panel.

For more information, take a look at the getting started guide for your operating system:

• Getting started with Windows
• Getting started with macOS

Linux users can follow the getting started with Linux guide and continue reading here for more information about the DST1001.

First Look

After plugging the DST1001 into your computer and opening the Phidget Control Panel, you will see something like this:

The Phidget Control Panel will list all connected Phidgets and associated objects, as well as the following information:

• Serial number: allows you to differentiate between similar Phidgets.
• Channel: allows you to differentiate between similar objects on a Phidget.
• Version number: corresponds to the firmware version your Phidget is running. If your Phidget is listed in red, your firmware is out of date. Update the firmware by double-clicking the entry.

The Phidget Control Panel can also be used to test your device. Double-clicking on an object will open an example.

Part 2: Using Your Phidget

About

The DST1001 uses reflected infrared light to measure distance. Use this Phidget when measuring short distances or for detecting objects passing in front of the sensor. The sensor will measure distances from 20mm to 650 mm in optimal conditions with an accuracy of about 1mm.

Explore Your Phidget Channels Using The Control Panel

You can use your Control Panel to explore your Phidget's channels.

1. Open your Control Panel, and you will find the Distance Phidget channel:

2. Double click on the channel to open an example program. This channel belongs to the Distance Sensor channel class:

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Distance Sensor: Measure the distance between the DST1001 and the object

In your Control Panel, double click on "Distance Phidget 650mm":

Part 3: Create your Program

1. Setting up your Programming Environment

2. Phidget Programming Basics

Part 4: Advanced Topics and Troubleshooting

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How do I know what channel, serial number, or hub port to use in my program?

Before you open a Phidget channel in your program, you can set these properties to specify which channel to open. You can find this information through the Control Panel.

1. Open the Control Panel and double-click on the red map pin icon:

2. The Addressing Information window will open. Here you will find all the information you need to address your Phidget in your program.

See the Phidget22 API for your language to determine exact syntax for each property.

How can I plot or record sensor data?

Note: Graphing and logging is currently only supported in the Windows version of the Phidget Control Panel.

In the Phidget Control Panel, open the channel for your device and click on the icon next to the data type that you want to plot. This will open up a new window:

If you need more complex functionality such as logging multiple sensors to the same sheet or performing calculations on the data, you'll need to write your own program. Generally this will involve addressing the correct channel, opening it, and then creating an Event Handler and adding graphing/logging code to it.

The quickest way to get started is to download some sample code for your desired programming language and then search google for logging or plotting in that language (e.g. "how to log to csv in python") and add the code to the existing change handler.

Filtering

You can perform filtering on the raw data in order to reduce noise in your graph. For more information, see the Control Panel Graphing page.

Graph Type

You can perform a transform on the incoming data to get different graph types that may provide insights into your sensor data. For more information on how to use these graph types, see the Control Panel Graphing page.

Setting the Change Trigger and Data Interval

The Change Trigger is the minimum change in the sensor data needed to trigger a new data event.

The Data Interval is the time (in ms) between data events sent out from your Phidget.

The Data Rate is the reciprocal of Data Interval (measured in Hz), and setting it will set the reciprocal value for Data Interval and vice-versa.

You can modify one or both of these values to achieve different data outputs. You can learn more about these properties here.

I’m getting an Out-Of-Range Error

The DST1001 will fire out-of-range error events when the reflected IR light doesn't reach the sensor, meaning the object is out of range. Objects that do not reflect light well might be harder to detect at greater distances.