New run of orbshields

SpaceOrb drivers and software discussions
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vputz
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Re: New run of orbshields

Postby vputz » June 03 2013, 13:24 PM

I'd just like to say, in apology to you Mac owners out there, that Macs are evil and must be destroyed. Even though Windows and Linux see this thing transparently without any drivers, OS X only sees it as a COM port and even though it shows up in the device list under USB (I can clearly see it!) no power on earth lets it show up.



Unfortunately I simply don't have the time and energy left for making it work. Free device (refund and fame) to the first person who can make it work under OS X, preferably without any "helper" programs. I've tried "usb overdrive" and a couple other "get your joystick working" programs to no avail. If OS X doesn't want to play nice with an industry standard I refuse to take it seriously as an operating system ;)



And with that, I've reached "screw it, let's ship" stage. Let the trickle begin: http://www.thingotron.com ... feedback of all sorts appreciated, and I please do be patient; I'm rather new to all this.

kenyee
Posts: 51
Joined: April 02 2013, 8:33 AM

Re: New run of orbshields

Postby kenyee » June 10 2013, 17:19 PM

So FYI, I did install Arduino 1.0.5 (did I ever say I'm stubborn about trying the latest? :D)

Installed fine...basicjoystick and gaindemo work fine. Only difference in following directions is I didn't have a c:\users\arduino\libraries directory. Instead, I installed the libraries\orbotron folder into the arduino executable's libraries directory.



Still trying to figure out why 1.5 is broken. Trying to figure out to build and run the IDE in debug mode so I can figure out what's going on, but the arduino site only has a wiki page on how to build, not how to debug IDE issues :-P

I thought it was because it couldn't find avrdude but that's ok.

They did add a RunnerException class in the latest nightlies but it doesn't print out any more useful info :-(

processing.app.debug.RunnerException

at processing.app.debug.BasicUploader.uploadUsingPreferences(BasicUploader.java:127)

at processing.app.Sketch.upload(Sketch.java:1670)

at processing.app.Sketch.exportApplet(Sketch.java:1604)

at processing.app.Sketch.exportApplet(Sketch.java:1576)

at processing.app.Editor$DefaultExportHandler.run(Editor.java:2424)

at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)

kenyee
Posts: 51
Joined: April 02 2013, 8:33 AM

works on Arduino 1.5.x!

Postby kenyee » June 10 2013, 18:25 PM

Ha! Did I mention I'm stubborn? :lol:



The issue was staring me in the face all this time. Arduino 1.5 actually needs an upload.tool parameter or it'd use the BasicUploader which of course doesn't do anything any more so it face plants :?

I submitted a bug in the arduino github project too...hopefully they'll fix that so people who add new boards don't get bit.



Anyways, I forked the repo and submitted a pull request w/ my changes.

Now I have to go find a decent Arduino Due board to play with since they finally went over to ARM and there seems to be a FreeRTOS port to it :)

qrash
Posts: 2
Joined: June 10 2013, 21:05 PM

Re: New run of orbshields

Postby qrash » June 10 2013, 21:21 PM

[quote="vputz"]And with that, I've reached "screw it, let's ship" stage. Let the trickle begin: http://www.thingotron.com ... feedback of all sorts appreciated, and I please do be patient; I'm rather new to all this.[/quote]

Hi Victor. First, let me thank you for all your efforts over the past several years. I've been reading this forum off and on and missed out when the Orbduino was in production. I've had SpaceOrbs for years and have 2 in working order and a couple more for parts. I registered here at Jay's forum and at Thingotron. Sadly, I see that the Orbotron 9000 SMD and case are not yet in production. I've added them to my account's wishlist. Does this ensure that I will receive a notification when these are in stock? I'd love to dust off my trusty SpaceOrb and help with any sort of feedback that could be helpful. Thanks again.



Kevin Ash

vputz
Posts: 341
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Re: New run of orbshields

Postby vputz » June 11 2013, 12:12 PM

Kenyee: GOOD WORK! I may need that as I'm about to start playing with an ARM-based bluetooth SOC (the heart of the rfduino) to see if I can learn how to make it work with the Arduino environment (don't hold your breath for a bluetooth orb; this is for a different project and I don't know if there's enough room inside to make it work anyway).



(but given that a side project is revamping some old Thrustmaster gear, I've thought of that... LOADS of room in those things. I just can't work out how to make them appear as one controller if I have multiple BT devices)



qrash:



There's one important thing you should remember about this process, if you'll forgive the egregious use of Meme Dog:


[attachment=0]memedog.jpg[/attachment]

I'd just forgotten to update inventory. There's a handful available (I have most of the parts for quite a few more but I'm at the "eh, no rush" stage and trying to use 6 boards for a stencil class at the local hackspace).
Attachments
memedog.jpg
memedog.jpg (10.82 KiB) Viewed 14803 times

kenyee
Posts: 51
Joined: April 02 2013, 8:33 AM

Re: New run of orbshields

Postby kenyee » June 11 2013, 14:40 PM

[quote="vputz"] playing with an ARM-based bluetooth SOC (the heart of the rfduino) to see if I can learn how to make it work with the Arduino environment

...can't work out how to make them appear as one controller if I have multiple BT devices.[/quote]


Doubt you can make multiple BT devices show up as a single controller. They'll probably be multiple controllers that you can remap.



I emailed the rfduino folks to see if they'd release their boards.txt and platform.txt files for you. That should be all you need since Arduino 1.5 has ARM support. Let me know if you have any problems w/ the pull request, but it should just be plug and play and not break Arduino 1.0 support.



BTW, your order page is a little broken on the home page...you can't click on add item on the home page. You have to look at item details before you can click on add...I'm running FF if that matters.



ken

vputz
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Re: New run of orbshields

Postby vputz » June 11 2013, 15:48 PM

[quote]Doubt you can make multiple BT devices show up as a single controller. They'll probably be multiple controllers that you can remap[/quote]

That's what I'm thinking too. But then there's the problem of how to remap them reliably so that a game could use them. I guess the first round of this can use the cables, but man, it'd be nice not to feel like sitting down to a good space simulator involved facing the kraken of cables to get throttle/joystick/pedals connected.



Another option would be to try and make them wireless to a receiver and have that be a unified device, but then I start getting worried about latency, plus it would drive the cost up.


[quote]BTW, your order page is a little broken on the home page...you can't click on add item on the home page. You have to look at item details before you can click on add...I'm running FF if that matters.[/quote]

Thanks for the heads-up. I think I fixed it--it seems to have something to do with the URL used to access the store and there was some rewriting going on. But I'm pretty new to all of this, so there's probably some more issues.

kenyee
Posts: 51
Joined: April 02 2013, 8:33 AM

Re: New run of orbshields

Postby kenyee » June 11 2013, 16:05 PM

[quote="vputz"]
That's what I'm thinking too. But then there's the problem of how to remap them reliably so that a game could use them[/quote]


When a bluetooth device shows up in Windows, doesn't it stay at the same "ID"? If so, the game should be able to detect the ID and map properly. You might have to make your bluetooth translator gizmo have an ID setting on the board or programmable in some way though...maybe unique names for it to show up as might work too.



Adding from home page now in case anyone else wants to order :)

qrash
Posts: 2
Joined: June 10 2013, 21:05 PM

Re: New run of orbshields

Postby qrash » June 11 2013, 18:12 PM

Ordered! Looking forward to dusting off my 'Sporb and playing some golden oldies and trying out some newer ones. Feedback to come.

kenyee
Posts: 51
Joined: April 02 2013, 8:33 AM

rfduino config files

Postby kenyee » June 11 2013, 20:11 PM

FYI, I did ask the rfduino folks about those files...their reply:

==============



Those files have not been released yet. Once we do release them, they will not be part of the official Arduino release. It will be an add-on to the release.

vputz
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Re: New run of orbshields

Postby vputz » June 12 2013, 1:29 AM

Doesn't surprise me. I got my samples of the chip and started staring dumbly at the datasheet; I suppose it doesn't seem to do USB directly (I was hoping it would do BT and USB), so I'm actually curious how they're going to program it from the Arduino environment (heck, it's not clear to me how to program it period). It may not be the chip I go with, but I wanted to learn something new, and they're cheap as anything (the QFN package I'm not mad about) for something that includes BT. Still lots I didn't think about. Learning: I does it.

kenyee
Posts: 51
Joined: April 02 2013, 8:33 AM

Re: New run of orbshields

Postby kenyee » June 12 2013, 9:33 AM

[quote="vputz"]doesn't seem to do USB directly (I was hoping it would do BT and USB), so I'm actually curious how they're going to program it from the Arduino environment[/quote]

They require you to use a USB shield for programming. If you look at the board, it's fairly complicated so I'd bet it implements some sort of USB to JTAG or SWD interface:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/000/420/087/74c2a2743f3e115b92ad0170ef1a4cae_large.jpg?1362362735



I looked at the rfduino a while back when it was on kickstarter and thought it'd be cool until I asked them if they solved Android's Bluetooth 4.0 LE problem...basically there is no API so it's a convoluted mess of 3rd party libraries hacked onto the stack which changed multiple times. Android 4.3 is supposed to add native support so that giant mess is supposed to be fixed...

vputz
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Re: New run of orbshields

Postby vputz » June 12 2013, 11:00 AM

Yeah, it may not be what I go with... I'd just as soon stick with the 32u4 and a bluetooth serial module, but BT serial modules are annoyingly expensive in comparison (the RN42 by itself is 13GBP) and I haven't found a good solution. It's like 120-240 AC -> 5vDC power supplies. I can buy a wall wart that does it for $4, but a PCB-mountable version is $20, and with every dollar of cost translating to about $2.7 in price, that gets silly fast.



If someone came out with a solid Cortex M0 SOC with both USB and BT, I'd be ecstatic.

kenyee
Posts: 51
Joined: April 02 2013, 8:33 AM

Re: New run of orbshields

Postby kenyee » June 12 2013, 13:04 PM

[quote="vputz"]
If someone came out with a solid Cortex M0 SOC with both USB and BT, I'd be ecstatic.[/quote]


How about an M3?

Broadcom BCM20732

http://www.broadcom.com/press/release.php?id=s767776



No info on pricing anywhere yet. There are supposedly eval kits available, but I can't find any page w/ a datasheet or anything :x

I think it'll be more expensive because it's an M3 (which is better for coding because it has a pseudo MMU...probably doesn't matter for Arduino use though)

vputz
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Re: New run of orbshields

Postby vputz » June 12 2013, 14:40 PM

Yeah, that's the reason I get conflicted; even if the cost is low, I feel funny using something so monumentally overpowered for the simple tasks I have. But I want things to be *easily* reprogrammable by the end user (for remapping keys, changing the way things "feel", etc). The Broadcomm chip looks good (but still no native USB that I can see; I'd love if it had USB for programming so I didn't have to put something else on the board like an 8u2, but that may be my solution; 8u2 for the USB side of things, M0 or M3 SOC for the bluetooth and logic)



I'm curious about the rfduino USB programming shield... that doesn't actually look that complicated maybe. A VR and support bits, some caps, maybe that's a crystal and something like an 8u2 to deal with the USB comm. Depending on the firmware on the SOC, it could be nothing more than a usb-to-serial adapter with a little extra (I'm pretty sure that Nordic SOC has a UART).


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