Step 1 : Overview
One of my designs, an Elves present wrapping factory, is driven by a Picaxe / Olsen-595 controller. The factory contains 49 separate circuits. The data to specify the automation steps is held in an Excel spreadsheet which makes it extremely easy to update. The spreadsheet contains over 36,000 cells!
This howto contains the actual Picaxe code for the controller as well as the actual Excel spreadsheet plus the program used to download the spreadsheet into the Picaxe.
The whole thing is generic meaning you can use the same hardware and software to run any design you like.
I much prefer standalone designs like this rather than trying to run everything from one PC because it means you do not risk losing the lot if the PC goes down. You also do not have any cabling issues as the whole thing is mounted with the display.
(Thanks to ? from NZ for parts of the design that I copied from his excellent display.)
