<LOGO> ElectroMac
Chapter 4 - Conclusion and Evaluation

Conclusion
Interfaces are an important part of all our lives even though very few people operate them directly or even know that they are there ! ElectroMac has a PIC microcontroller inside it allowing it to communicate with the Macintosh computer and receive signal from the electronic circuits.

There is a standrard set of commands which are sent to ElectroMac instructing to to perform fuctions or return information. These are then available at a higher level programming language in the form of a series of subroutines written in C++.

ElectroMac can then be used to demonstrate computer control of lighting or other output devices as well as being used to record or time external events.

Evaluation
The interface ended up fairly close to the original idea and specification. I ended up not looking at other interfaces and interfacing other computers, but studied my own interface more closely. I did however write a section on very basic interfacing and its every day uses in the background section of the first chapter.

I did not have enough time to do much work on analogue due to more complex electronics and thus I did not write very much about it in the report. This is also true of data logging, another proposed original idea. The idea of connecting the model house to the interface was not in the original plan but seemed a good way of demonstrating the interface's capablilities.

The investigation provides a good overview of ElectroMac but could be improved by providing a bit more information about other interfaces available and the problems (and solutions) of interfacing the Macintosh.



©1998 Nicholas Humfrey <e-mail> <www>