Engineering Projects/Multimeter Arduino/Howard Community College/Fall2012/p2-550-oq

Problem Statement

To disassemble a voltmeter.
To find a way to make a new connection to the LCD screen.
To attach an arduino to allow the use of the lcd screen by the arduino.
To program and Arduino to record the inputs of the multimeter.

Team Members

Osborne
Quentin

Summary

The goal of the project was to take a Cen-Tech digital multimeter and add an arduino to spy on the displays, to intercept and collect data, then display data as well as other things on the display. We disassebled teh multimeters, and we explored possible ways of connecting to the LCD screen.

Poster

Multimeter Poster

Story

Add caption here

We started this project half way though the 4 week time slot, when our makerbot project was cancelled. We started by disassembling each of the multimeters. We photographed each step, and documented the process. This was then made into a tutorial for later groups. We learned that the connector to the LCD screen was know as a zebra strip, and we collected information as to possible ways to connect to this. We ran into obstacles such as broken parts, and an inability to make a connection to the LCD screen. Some of our testing included recording each possible display of the LCD screen, so as to find all of the possible outputs. This could be used later to find the connection on the circuit board to each LCD bar.Our final goal was to attach an arduino, but due to time constraints, we could not achieve this.

Material List

1. Cen-Tech Multimeter

2. Phillips Screw Driver

3. Magnet (to hold small parts)

Needs to be purchased

1. Arduino (or use schools)

Time

Quentin- 14.5 hours

Brian-8 hours

Tutorials

Dis-assembly Tutorial

Next Steps

Design a way to connect the Multimeter box with the arduino. Then, find a way to connect the arduino to the LCD screen. Check the connectivity of the top of the circuit board where the board connects to arduino. Then, program the arduino to spy on the user, and record the inputs and outputs of the multimeter, and possibly alter the outputs to give a false reading.