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Countertop Template Digitizer

The Challenge

The customer had a designed for an electronic system to template countertops for replacement with granite.

Contractors typically use large sheets of cardboard to make a life-sized physical template of the area, then digitize it later so the stone can be machined. The customer's design provided a means to digitize the countertop in place.

The customer had an existing mechanical prototype, but needed assistance with the circuitry and software to make it all work.

Solution

We used a PIC microcontroller to track high-resolution encoders which connects via Bluetooth to a PDA that handles the user interface and template data.

The system features include:

Laser alignment system
Measurements have millimeter accuracy
PDA provides the user interface
The PDA uses Bluetooth to connect to the digitizer
All digitizing is done on site
CAD/CAM data can be emailed from the job site
Built-in cost estimator can provide quotes on site

Technical Details

The embedded system uses a PIC 18F452 microcontroller.
The PDA software was created with Microsoft™ Visual Basic .NET and the .NET Compact Framework.