Onboard clock (kind of goes without saying)
Yes, it has an RTC already.
Actually, it has rather a lot of things I didn't specifically mention. It's a specialty industrial VLSI block that I suspect most people wouldn't even get to see. I only "stumbled" on it while doing design job for someone else.
Temp records. Lots of dataloggers have the typical Dallas sensor packed with the kit anyway. Ambient temperature measurements are useful for me since it goes from +30 to -40C where I live, this affects many things, from battery capacity, calibration of the shunt, to air density (hence turbine Cp). If you are really adept at this stuff, you can put multiple temp sensors on one bus and just read them sequentially from one input channel.
It has a temperature sensor also, but I intend adding at least one external sensor. I hadn't said anything because until I get my hands on some, I'm not sure how much of my wish-list I will be able to implement. I *HOPE* that it will be easy enough to code multidrop sensors, in which case I'll provide for several DS18B20's similar to what I did with one of my other projects:
http://logging.net.au/If you were to look at what the Backshed logger kit, what you get is an interface that is intended to do all the calculations for you inside the logger. That's fine if you only want to use the datalogger for only one wind turbine and absolutely nothing else. If you are seriously going to create a datalogger, then you might want to consider how the I/O goes from the box to the computer, and whether the majority of your users want a GUI window on the computer or just a stream of data into files on the hard drive. The desire for an LCD would send you in the direction of "all calculations on board", so bear in mind that maybe the LCD should get a simplified data set, and the comprehensive set is just raw in a separate file. Something to keep down the number processing, which takes away from the actual data collecting business.
Yes, it has 40-odd IO pins to drive LCD panels directly, although I'd probably choose a slightly more expensive solution and use a 2x20 or 4x20 character display, just because it's so much more flexible. The device has a core engine that does all the A/D work (did I mention it's a 21 or 22 bit ADC? To put that in perspective, it means I could have a 0-250V input scale and still read down to millivolts - without *ANY* changes in components or need for user configuration), and a seperate (improved) 8051 MPU for the "application", so it's got plenty of grunt to process all those things onboard.
You could store all data to a Flash card. Or provide the option. Some users may not want/need a continuous RS232 link. The flash card may be preferrable to an EEPROM.
Yes, I've been wondering if I use an SD card, or a USB thumbdrive. Again, I'll see what I can manage. RS232 or Bluetooth have some advantages, but so does local storage. I tend to far prefer real-time logging than collect it once a week type dumps, but I suppose it depends on what you're using it for.
Feel free to skip the ideas that make your project more complex than necessary. If the core data collection, calibration, and sampling rates are good, then hobbyists like us and customize the user end to our liking.
None of your ideas are bad - and all of them (and a bunch of others) are already in my plans. I'm just itching to get my first units here to start playing with. I'm going to be bitterly disappointed if the reality isn't what's promised in the spec sheets.
You're in Australia right? Then you've heard of the Maximite, right?
Yes, well aware of it. It's a nice novelty, but at this point in its development, I sure wouldn't want to rely on it. The device I'm talking about is a fair dinkum, solid and appropriately designed industrial core, with voltage regulation, battery switching, power condition (brownout) detection, oscillator/PLL/RTC, XRAM etc all designed for industrial temperature ranges, power supply conditions, EMI/RFI and all the compliance stuff built in.
Darn, I'm about 7th in line for the pre-orders. Put me down, too! Ghurd can vouch that I am good for beta-testing, too.
Thats just 7-th in line in this forum - there's a bunch more in IRC!
