I’ve got a cheap old EPROM eraser which simply turns on when you plug it in, and turns off when you unplug it (no safety interlocks, even!). Erasing EPROMs usually involves filling it up, plugging it in, and setting a kitchen timer or something for 20 minutes. The trouble is, you have to remember to unplug it when the timer goes off, which involves stopping what you’re currently doing or forgetting about the EPROMs and overerasing them into uselessness. I’ve already built a number of optoisolated relay switched outlets for various projects, but didn’t currently have a timer to control them. Enter Ruby!

require 'serialport'
require 'ruby-progressbar'

SECONDS_TO_RUN = 20 * 60

port = SerialPort.new('/dev/ttyUSB0')
progress = ProgressBar.create(:title => 'EPROM Erase', :total => SECONDS_TO_RUN)
puts "Erasing for #{SECONDS_TO_RUN} seconds (#{SECONDS_TO_RUN / 60.0} minutes)..."

# Wired my cable for RTS == 0 == relay on
port.rts = 0

begin
  for seconds in 1..SECONDS_TO_RUN
    progress.increment
    sleep 1
  end
rescue SystemExit, Interrupt
  puts ' Caught interrupt, exiting...'
ensure
  port.rts = 1
  puts '...done!'
  exit
end

(View on GitHub for direct download)

Being as the relay controller was an optoisolated current loop, I just connected it to the RTS handshake pin on a USB -> RS-232 adapter. The RTS pin is typically used to signal to a connected device that the computer is ready to send some data. It, along with the other output handshake signals, can be used as a 1-bit output port under software control. The serialport gem allows us to control the handshake lines from Ruby with ease:

require 'serialport'

port = SerialPort.new('/dev/ttyUSB0')
port.rts = 0 # Switch the relay on
port.rts = 1 # and back off again

I added in a quick progress bar using the ruby-progressbar gem. Its documentation covers both basic and advanced usage.

The control of the relay is wrapped in a begin-rescue-ensure-end structure, which captures SIGINT and SIGTERM. This makes sure that we turn the relay off if someone bashes CTRL+C or uses kill.

For wiring, simply use pins 4 and 7 (RTS and GND) on a DB-25, or pins 7 and 5 on a DB-9. You can stick a LED directly across them (they’re current limited) to test. Since the RS-232 port reverses polarity between mark and space, you can reverse the connections to invert the action on the LED. Use a two-color, two-pin LED and try toggling the RTS pin if you’re unsure.

EPROMs ruined