My boyfriend is very tech-savvy and likes to build things. This weekend he made up a little contraption that measures how fast the hamster wheel is spinning, and how far has been traveled. Chaos is demonstrating how it works.
Warning -- very very VERY slight adult language in the video. Chaos pooed and it was gross.
I still think the software is a bit glitchy, and we don't trust it to be left on the wheel overnight, but its still very cool. If anybody would like to make one of their own, I could get my boyfriend to write a little tutorial.
What kind of sensor is it that your using? That's really quite cool My handy-man friend was gonna make me some sort of thing hooked up to the wheel (he was thinking of a light attached to it) but this is much cooler Although I'm not sure what you'd do with the info. It'd be good to monitor wheel use though
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Welcome, my handsome LH syrian boy Dr Calcifer Lightman (a.k.a "Cal")!
Run free at the bridge my precious little Senpop. (10/10 - 04/12)
RIP My sweet little dwarfies - Doc and Noodle <3
It's not a sensor it's actually a bump switch. He wrote up a little thing on how to do it if you're interested. It's got schematics and programming codes in it, so I don't really want to clog the forum with things that many people don't understand, but he did write it up, so if anybody is interested I can send it your way.
I was thinking about one of these the other day. Thought I'd buy a cheap cycle computer from lidl and adapt it for Gina's giant Karlie Wonderland Wheel.
Google does it for you 119.24 (inches per second) = 6.77500 miles per hour
He was normally running about 20 (inches per second) = 1.13636364 miles per hour
__________________
Welcome, my handsome LH syrian boy Dr Calcifer Lightman (a.k.a "Cal")!
Run free at the bridge my precious little Senpop. (10/10 - 04/12)
RIP My sweet little dwarfies - Doc and Noodle <3
Good job with the speedo. You can pick up magnetic sensors connected through a usb project board quite cheap, optical ones work good too, like a laser trip with counter and a bit of retro reflective tape on the wheel if you want to keep it minimal in the cage. This will count the number of revs per second and when you know the circumference of the wheel ( π r or π d 0.5) its easy to work out speed and distance covered. I'm not a programmer though so dunno much about the programming you would need to do, I've only ever used commercial programmes before.
A wireless cycle computer would do a good job too I think, providing it has settings for such a small wheel. Seen it done on youtube before.
Not dissing or anything, just pointing out a viable alternative
Holy sh.... cow. I've just read this back and decided that I'm a geek.
Last edited by alexarcano; 02-21-2011 at 03:14 AM.
Reason: read it back :S
Good job with the speedo. You can pick up magnetic sensors connected through a usb project board quite cheap, optical ones work good too, like a laser trip with counter and a bit of retro reflective tape on the wheel if you want to keep it minimal in the cage. This will count the number of revs per second and when you know the circumference of the wheel ( π r or π d 0.5) its easy to work out speed and distance covered. I'm not a programmer though so dunno much about the programming you would need to do, I've only ever used commercial programmes before.
A wireless cycle computer would do a good job too I think, providing it has settings for such a small wheel. Seen it done on youtube before.
Not dissing or anything, just pointing out a viable alternative
Holy sh.... cow. I've just read this back and decided that I'm a geek.
Yep, that's pretty much exactly what he did, except with the bump switch rather than magnetic or laser sensors. The bump switch was just what would be most minimal in the cage.
He is a programmer, so he was able to create a program to go with the Arduino USB project board, and that did all the calculations for us. He figured out the circumference of the wheel and created code so the program would calculate everything.
I'll mention the optical or magnetic sensors to him. I bet they are much more accurate than the bump switch, and the programming wouldn't be much different.
DIY hamster wheel spedometer
My handy-man friend was gonna make me some sort of thing hooked up to the wheel (he was thinking of a light attached to it) but this is much cooler 
Although I'm not sure what you'd do with the info. It'd be good to monitor wheel use though 
Linear Mode
