[ihc] OT- pressure sensor/ plus feedback for research project on tires

[Danny Anderson <danderson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hola, Scout folks-
I have been a serial lurker for some time- my Scout is down in NC and I 
am focusing on graduating from university/getting married/looking for a 
job/preparing to move to Little Rock, etc.

FAIR WARNING: The following has nothing to do with Scouts!  I am asking 
for help/feedback here because this list  combines a fair level of 
technical acumen with practical know-how and creative ablility.

Now that you are buttered up- here's the background :)

I am doing research on tire performance under heat and pressure, as an 
outgrowth of the TREAD Act mandating tire pressure monitoring on all 
vehicles by 2006 Congress passed a little while back.

This is a two semester project- the current web page I have been working 
up is a little sparse, but it has a link to  the the previous semester's 
work:
http://www.cs.odu.edu/~danders/cs411/
for those interested in some of the background, etc.

My team is in the midst of building a prototype to test the software for 
a monitoring system we have developed.  The lab prototype is going to be 
a golf cart tire.  Our current plan is to install multiple valve stems 
and run the leads for our gauges through the stems.  Here is a quick run 
down of needs to be run into the tire currently:

Analog temp gauge
Analog pressure gauge
Electronic temp gauge to interface with a Labjack
Electronic pressure gauge to interface with a Labjack
Heating element wire/control wire/ some kinda heat generator.


The item we are having trouble with is the pressure sensor.  Honeywell 
made exactly what we wanted (Honeywell Pressure Transducer Model DG), 
but they don't carry it anymore and the new model doesn't come out until 
after the semester's end.  Anybody have any leads or ideas on this??
The file section of the project website has a link to the spec sheet of 
the Honeywell model:
http://www.cs.odu.edu/~danders/cs411/files.shtml

Some other items I would appreciate feedback on:
-Recommendations on the analog gauges.  For the analog pressure and 
temperature , can anybody recommend a simple inexpensive gauge that can 
be attached or run through a valve stem?

-For heating of the tire, I am entertaining the notion of a heating 
element run inside the tire, attached to the interior of the rim. 
Beside the obvious problem of catching the tire on fire, any other 
gotcha's this worthy group can think of?

Any other comments, suggestions, equipment, cash, etc. much appreciated. 
 I realize this is an OT post and noise for this list, so feel free to 
email me off list at this address: bturnip@domain.elided.

Thanks!
Danny

ps- I hope to pick up the Scout once I get to Arkansas in about 2 
months.  I am sure I will have some honest Scout content at that time.

pps- Mr. Welty, I often see your comments on unix/linux related 
newsgroups.  A bulwark against the half-educated, full-opinionated masses.