couter and average

[haybaler]

Howdy,
I would like to build a circuit to count pulses, and display the number until a new count is made. Then average the last 10 counts and display the running average. I was planning on using a prox or a limit switch for the pulses. What it is for is to count the number of slices in a hay bale as it is being baled. It will help to keep the bales uniform in length by knowing to speed up or slow down to keep the hay feeding in at about the same rate. Running at full speed it will be pulsing about 95 times a minute. I would like it to do another thing but if I can get to do this I’ll be happy,, for now. Thanks.

 

[Papabravo]

This task is very nearly trivial for any of a number of different microcontrollers. They have a special purpose hardware device, called a "compare/capture unit" or words to that effect. The purpose is to signal the processor and record the relative arrival time of either a rising edge or a falling edge from a sensor. Displaying a number and reseting this process is also a very nearly trivial task. The parts cost is minimal, a couple of bucks, and the development tools are nearly free, a couple of tens of bucks.

Check out the processor datasheets at
www.microchip.com
www.atmel.com
**broken link removed**
www.freescale.com

If this task is beyond your capabilitiy I can give you a fixed cost for a handful of prototypes.