Hi Michael,
I'd guess from what you say that you've experimented with tighter
control over the Arduino than the way I was going for. What you say
about Linux would almost certainly apply to the Mac.
There's got to be a shorter chain of components than this (for which
I've located freeware code but not integrated it yet):
Duty-cycle (in C) running on Arduino to work the devices and poll the TTY link
{TTY link to Mac using the USB}
BASH script to poll the TTY and read control file / write data file
{Control file plus data file}
J script to write control file / read data file
For my purposes this will probably do, but having a J verb/script to
read/write the TTY directly would be splendid. Is there one hidden
away in the add-ons? (This has got to be so simple it's below my
radar.)
The modern version of TTY (as used here) is Bluetooth. I believe you
can get a Bluetooth add-on (called a "shield" by Arduino buffs). A J
script to communicate with a Bluetooth device would be great, too.
Having built gadgets from the age of 8 or so (1950, when there wasn't
much on the market you could afford out of pocket-money) I want to go
back to building penny-arcade automata. Another fun thing to do (if
not awfully original) is turtle graphics with a real turtle.
But there's one engineering demo I saw once, powered by a Commodore
PET, I simply must get working for myself: so simple, so effective.
Briefly it's a servo-driven rocking bar, on which a metal ball rolls
in a groove. The groove has two "rails" of resistive wire, which
together with the ball forms a sliding (=rolling) resistor. A separate
potmeter provides user input to set some parameter. The goal is to
write an effective program to balance the ball (there are several
strategies for doing that) -- learning a load of servomechanism theory
in the process.
Needless to say, I'm going to drive it from TABULA, which will specify
the control model to be used.
Ian
On Sun, May 9, 2010 at 10:33 PM, Michael Dykman <[email protected]> wrote:
> Ian,
>
> I have played with Arduino a bit under linux. I found the package
> pretty tight as far as working out of the box, but there was some
> settling in.
>
> At first, I occasionally had the issue of the USB interface not
> appearing to work, but then I realized that a new USB port is
> allocated on your system each time the Arduino is plugged in. Check
> under Tools/Serial Port *each* time you replug your device.
>
> Also, make sure your IDE has the right board selected under Tools/Board.
>
> Mostly, I have just been playing with blinking lights and some R/C
> servos I picked up on eBay but it has been fun. Still trying to
> decide on something more substantial when I have the time. A close
> friend of mine is designing custom lighting effects for his wedding
> based on the ATMega... he played around with the Arduino proper for
> about 2 weeks when he decided he needed to build his own firmware and
> bought a batch of AtMega processors.
>
> Good luck!
>
> - michael dykman
>
>
> On Sun, May 9, 2010 at 3:48 PM, Ian Clark <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I'm currently playing with the Arduino microcontroller much beloved of
>> hobbyists and gadgeteers: http://arduino.cc/
>>
>> Pleased with what I can make it do so far, which is program it (in C),
>> but not communicate through my Mac with its running program.
>>
>> It has a USB port which supports a simple TTY interface via which
>> commands can be sent and data retrieved.
>>
>> Does anyone have any experience of communicating with it using J?
>>
>> Ian
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
>>
>
>
>
> --
> - michael dykman
> - [email protected]
>
> May the Source be with you.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
>
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