[linuxworks]

I wonder how *usable* a cheap joystick will be.

then again, that's far from cheap, at that price

for input selection, I guess I'm a bit old fashioned and that I'd want either a single button that cycles between the inputs OR individual buttons, one for each input port.

fiddly things like joysticks always sound good on paper but I never liked them in actual operation.

 

[DoYouRight]

could itouch be used to control this?

 

[linuxworks]

I'm thinking that IP (web) is one way to try to control it. its a neutral 'standard' (not vendor specific).

wireless handheld that speaks IP and can 'browse the web' might be a good remote idea. it would have a touch pad, some kind of graphics ability and all that. and once you enable a webserver inside the gear, you get 'management' via handheld remote things as well as proper desk pc's running, say, firefox

IR would be the simplest and cheapest and most obvious way into the box. xbee (zigbee) wireless RF 'chips' are another semi-easy arduino standard way. bluetooth could be another (I have not even looked at what arduinos can do with BT but I bet there's a good amount out there).

lots of possible ways to remotely 'touch 'devices, once you put a cpu inside

 

[johnwmclean]

Very Cool... Holy Cow!

 

[linuxworks]

slight status update: I pulled out the 'sony only' (lol) IR receiver code and integrated a multibrand receiver code base.

from here:

Arc Language Blog: An Arduino universal remote: record and playback IR signals

it seems to receive sony, nec (a LOT of controls speak nec language) and philps rc5 and rc6 (two varieties). more work is needed on philips since they don't always send the same code for the same key (odd how that works, for them).

a nice plus is that the IR code base also includes ir SENDING as well! I have not even tried this yet but it might be interesting to play with it some other time. use case: if your input selector goes to 'tv' then it could send out an IR burst to turn the tv, itself, on. switch back to a diff analog input and it might turn the tv off. or to that effect.

ir blasters are not the best way to control devices but sometimes its all you have. my tv has no serial control input or anything like that, so if I want the tube off, it has to be IR for me.

anyway, I'm still working on testing this new code out. with that will come some way for users to run a 'learn script' and associate the internal functions (vol_up, mute, etc) with user assigned IR remote keypresses.

 

[_atari_]

Thats cool news.

I think you cannot overestimate the effort to do this. I think you will create a major contribution to the arduino world!

 

[linuxworks]

when I converted the code from the sony non-interrupt based IR decoder to the new codebase (which uses interrupts and hardware 'timer2' in the arduino) I found that the IR driver was...

TOO FAST!

lol.

such a problem to have, something being 'too fast'

some code restructuring to stop the repeated keys was needed. now it seems to work ok. I think (lol).

 

[_atari_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif some code restructuring to stop the repeated keys was needed. now it seems to work ok. I think (lol).

last commit-message: should compile

 

[linuxworks]

some fun, just for the heck of it. I ported over a game to get more experience in the IR library and LCD libs:

heh

software development isn't all fun and games. but sometimes it can be (lol).

 

[glt]

linuxworks,

There is something better than your programming skills: your photography skills. Superb photos....

 

[amb]

Status update: We now have a prototype team and I hope to ship the boards out to the team sometime within the next week.

 

[MoxMonkey]

i might have missed it in this thread but what are we looking at for price to build one of these?

 

[amb]

The LCDuino-1 PCB board cost is yet undetermined until we go to production, but the parts to populate it is about $35-40 including the LCD module. It doesn't take into account any additional hardware ("application modules") that may be needed to make it do real work.

 

[linuxworks]

rough cost of the key parts:

lcd: about $10-$15
cpu chip: about $5
clock chip: also about $5
port exp chip: about $1
6pin connectors: about $1 ea (3 needed)
pin header: about $1
trimmer pot: about $1
resonator: less than $1

for those that want to do any kind of editing of the program code, figure in another $20 for a serial/usb download cable (has FTDI chip in the cable).

so, the cable (optional but highly recommended so you can roll your own code) and the lcd are the largest 'ticket' items that I can think of. the cable is something you buy one of (regardless of how many LCDuinos you build and program). the amber-on-black lcd's that I use are $10 at mouser.

so that should give a rough idea of the key parts cost.

 

[mattcalf]

Very cool! Thanks Linuxworks and AMB for developing such an obviously wanted piece of kit in DIY audio and thanks for keeping it cheap!