The Ultimate AndroiDAQ Guide

I started Controlled Capture Systems in 2002. This company provides software and hardware development and systems integration services to large and small companies. Systems Integration is a fancy name for interfacing electronic equipment and other components with electronic parts to make the system as a whole work in unison, hence my love for robotics and machine control. 

I have been designing interface electronic circuits for various companies and systems since 1987, up to and including printed circuit board layout. Of course that was during the days before Computer Aided Design, so 4X tape ups of the PCB were the norm then. I now use Cadence/OrCAD for layout work which is a godsend compared to tape up work on Mylar, and also due to the micro sized pitches of today's electronics.

I started programming computers when I bought a kit from Radio Shack in 1977 and during high school on a Commodore PET. I further learned more programming techniques in 1982 when I purchased a TI-99/4A and also when I was able to hack a friends Commodore 64. From there I learned Basic, most forms of C, Perl, JAVA, HTML, css, xml, php and other web programming languages. I have many firmware languages under my belt for various micro-controllers. I currently enjoy programming with Android (my favorite system as a whole), LabVIEW, and IMAQ ( both are graphical programming and image processing languages), OpenCV -the mother of image processing languages, and a few others that won't come to mind. 

In 1980, I joined the US Navy Nuclear Power Program. As a nuke, I was stationed on several US nuclear submarines in Hawaii and in Washington state. Prior to joining the Navy I had three years of training from Devry where I learned to design electronic circuits using anything from vacuum tubes to integrated circuits. This prior training allowed me to teach basic electronics to Middle Eastern sailors in San Diego, while I awaited nuke school.

After the Navy, in 1988, I helped start a company called Control Vision Inc.. There we designed several laser augmented video camera systems that could see through bright light of processes like arc welding and plasma spray. While at Control Vision I got into image processing and machine vision, using LabVIEW. Unfortunately, the owner of Control Vision retired prematurely and dissolved the local company location, so I started Controlled Capture Systems, my present company.

I have worked on many exciting projects during my career, including projects for NASA and the Department of Energy,  where in 2003 we jointly developed a Concealed Weapons and Contraband Detection walk-through system, which produced one of the several US Patents that I hold on such systems.  I especially enjoy helping people with taking their ideas and making them a reality. I have made many prototype designs for companies throughout the years and have helped start up companies take their initial designs into full production systems. Gearing up for manufacturing is another aspect of my job that I enjoy, as it is an exciting time for any start up company.

I recently completed the design of a development module that I call AndroiDAQ. This module gives data acquisition capabilities to Android tablets and phones. The module has over 16-channels, all of which can be configured as either an input or output, which can provide a high/low digital levels, or they be configured as frequency measuring channels or frequency outputting channels. The module also has a separate 8-channel ADC that can be used for voltage measurements. I designed the AndroiDAQ module as I wasn't happy with the number of channel offerings, limitations, size, and costs per channel of other commercially available  data acquisition products currently on the market. I was also not satisfied with other simplistic project platforms like the Ardruino, for use on projects like hexapods, quadcopters and other complex robotic systems that need parallel processes, vice linear processes. You can email me at: rfluck@controlcapture.com as I welcome inquiries and/or questions regarding how we can work together.