(Click here for larger image of dev platform with encoder inputs)Optical encoders provide a much more rugged and reliable input method as an alternative to using keyboards, mice, and touchscreens, according to the company. Applications include convenient and fast navigation through hierarchical menus, or adding a rotation vector to on-screen cursor positions. Consumer devices such as mp3 players and gaming consoles make extensive use of optical encoder inputs, and medical and military applications testify to the reliability of the components as input devices, the company adds.
Grayhill lists the following features and functions of its development system:
- 400 MHz Intel XScale processor
- 64 MB Flash Memory
- 128 MB SDRAM
- Choice of LCDs -- 5.7 QVGA; 8.4 or 10.4 SVGA
- Touchscreen interface
- 10/100 Mbit Ethernet
- USB Host controller
- USB Client controller, with ActiveSync support
- 3 RS232 serial COM ports
- Dual PCMCIA slots
- FPGA
- Supports Grayhill encoders, keypads, and I/O modules
The company says its Embedded Design and Build service offers turnkey custom embedded systems based on the above development system specs. The full package includes a custom Windows CE operating system build, including all device drivers with documentation and sample code for each driver. The custom encoder driver can provide encoder data directly, or can map it to ASCII strings, elminating the need to "reinvent the wheel developing quadrature decoding algorithms or device drivers to read the data" into an application, the company says.
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