Q: Light sensors for accurate timings, linking to PC

frank.hastings_at_gmail.com
Date: 12/30/04 

Date: 30 Dec 2004 07:38:22 -0800

Hello group,

I was wondering if one of you might be able to help me with the
following.

Basically, I need to get accurate timings for the passage of a ball
around a roulette wheel. These timings would then be processed on my
PC.

I guess I would need several light sensors positioned around the wheel
to measure the ball passing. As a rough guide, the ball is about 2cm in
diameter and travels at about 3 m/s.

I would like to create an experimental setup pretty much like this one:
http://www.survtech.com.au/reports/rouletteCompDev.htm

I have looked into using http://www.phidgets.com/ , which looks like a
very user-friendly platform, but the analog sensors are sampled at only
65 Hz, which I assume may be too low for my use.

Could someone point me at a ready-made experimental platform I could
use for this?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Frank