====== Hardware ====== 
{{ fastdev:phidget_ifk_lcd_1203.jpg}}


The **toolkit** for the seminar includes hardware from the company [[http://www.phidgets.com|Phidgets]]. 

Specifically, the kit contains: 

  * One Phidget Interface Kit (8/8/8) with integrated LCD screen. [[http://www.phidgets.com/index.php?module=pncommerce&func=itemview&IID=117|Link]] 
  * One Phidget RFID reader. [[http://www.phidgets.com/index.php?module=pncommerce&func=itemview&IID=17|Link]]
  * Several sensors: Voltage, current, light, slider, rotation sensor, touch sensor. [[http://www.phidgets.com/index.php?module=pncommerce&func=categoryview&CID=6&KID=|Link]]
  * And more ... !




The Interface Kit (known as IFK) has 8 Analog Inputs, 8 Digital Inputs, 8 Digital Outputs and a small LCD (2 lines of 20 chars each). It communicates and gets power from the PC using the USB bus.

The analog sensors connect to the interface kit using simple 3-wire cables with audio connectors. These 3 wires carry power for the sensor, and the return signal with the measured value. A microcontroller in the Interface Kit  has several 10bit analog to digital converters. They measure the voltage returned from the sensor (0-5V) and send it to the PC.

More information about the IFK in this {{fastdev:phidget_ifklcd_manual_1200.pdf|PDF}}, and about the sensors {{fastdev:phidget_sensors.pdf|here}}.

Note that the Phidgets documentation always refers to sensor values as integers in the range 0-1023, and in the Player architecture, the same range corresponds to floating numbers between 0.0 and 5.0. This happens because Player's interface expresses voltage directly, instead of its 10-bit integer representation. Example: A reading of 2.0V from the Player software corresponds to a reading of 410 according to the Phidgets documentation. (2.0*1024/5=409.6)

{{fastdev:phidget_slider_1112.jpg?200}}
{{fastdev:phidget_current_1119.jpg?200}}
{{fastdev:phidget_distance_2008.jpg?200}}
{{fastdev:phidget_joystick_1113.jpg?200}}

(Images property of Phidgets Inc)