Aerotech ultimates

well, they've done it.

rgb (i.e can produce any colour you care to imagine), *fully* programmable (via usb pc link) aerotech equipment has arrived at last

anyone who saw the london juggling convention show (or was at the ejc earlier this year) will have been lucky enough to see owen and malte performing their classic 'spot the drop' routine with routine-programmed aerotech ultimate clubs

they already have plans for staff and poi with the same *individually controlled led technology* so that you have full control of programming the colour in each section of your toy.

here's the blurb from the aerotech website:

Written by: aerotech

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Sequence 16 Million Colours with the new GLO-ULTIMATE equipment.

After three years of development and 100 times over budget, we bring you the ultimate in illuminated juggling equipment.

Our standard product range is designed for on the fly programming, so with a set sequence of taps it is possible to configure a product to change colour and flash between 2 Colours.

In our new ultimate range programming has been replaced with a reprogrammable RGB (The primary colours Red, Green, Blue) light sequencing program.

Each colour of the RGB is independently programmed to run a sequence of timed events to change intensity (brightness) levels. By altering the intensity levels of the RGB it is possible to select a colour from a palette of 16 Million different colours. Time increments are controllable down to 0.1 second meaning that it is possible to create a dazzling light show which can then be synchronized with other products.

A sequence is created using a simple line of code written within a standard text editor (Note book, Word etc). The file is then downloaded to the equipment using a standard USB 2.0 connection.

By using full powered USB hubs the glo-equipment fast charges from empty to 80% charged in 2 hours.

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and links here:
main news page
details of the sequencing language
example of some sequence code
a little techy information on the software used

i don't wanna know how much i have to save up for a set of clubs - if i start working on a 5 club routine now, by the time i can juggle it, i should have enough money saved to buy the clubs...


cole. x

*drools*

did anyone see the "Spot the Drop" routine, and how good did the clubs look in the air...i mean is it worth splashing out the grande or so to buy them?

Wow, sounds like they've implemented just about everything I've been developing!! Damnit!

I like "Open source" and "do it yourself" too, thx Cole.

light,

:R

Nice, most excellent.

This is a very exciting time for glow toys, I think.

I hope we get pricing and pictures/videos of these toys soon.

One thing I'm keen to do is to get all the glow toys using the same interface. i.e. you only need to know one language / piece of software to produce light sequences for the toys available. Afterall, if everyone's talking the same language, it's going to open up many more doors for all us/you creative people!

hyperlight - i think that the programming language/interface may represent one of the biggest differentiators available in this market and as aerotech have plumped to release these products with code as the only control system available, the opportunity should be jumped on...

a programming language, no matter how simple, will scare off a *lot* of people.

jo 'illuminati' derry's proposed control system looked ideal for those people who don't want to set their toys' sequences using code.

a user-friendly gui (with an on-screen preview of the sequence) would seem to me to have the widest appeal.

the ideal interface would be timeline based (as with music sequencing or video editing software) which would make syncing to music (something most people will want to use these products for) a complete doddle.


it won't be too long before aerotech are pressured to develop and release a front end of this kind - as they already have the underlying code established, something like this shouldn't be too far behind...


cole. x

Oooo, the programming language is sooo cute!

Cole; I couldn't agree more - I've been thinking the same thing with regards to programming. I'm not familiar with what Jo had in mind to control his stuff (pre-programmed sequences with buttons to switch between?).


The way I see it, there are probably three groups of people that need to be catered for..

1) The kind of people who are terrified / uninterested in technology and just want something that makes nice patterns with the minimum amount of fuss. So for them, you have a bunch of inbuilt functions with a range of options that do some nice stuff.

2) The kind of poeple who what to write sequences to put to music or whatever, but either don't know how, or don't want to know how, to write code. For them, you make the gui interface you mentioned. To be honest, this is how I'd imagine most people would program poi like Aerotech's, Polarity, or my own creation. I'd imagine it would run something like windows movie maker. i.e. you just drag and drop thumbnails to produce a squence. You hit play and voila, it shows you what to expect.

3) People like me who are 'techies' ...we want the option to write our own software to program our toys, we want hands-on access to the things and actually enjoy playing around with code. Of course I suspect this group is probably the minority (or there'd be a lot more programmable glow toys out there!). For these guys, you have access to the intermediate language somewhere between what the processors on the poi execute, and what group (2) play with.

From what I've read of the new aerotech's, they sound like they'd be very much compatible with my own toys. i.e. they use the same language to control their poi to what I've been developing. I had planned to write a nice simple to use gui aimed at group (2) which options to produce code that group (3) would write. I see no reason why something myself or Aerotech produce couldn't be compatible, because the underlying technology is pretty darn similar

Does this programming code thing mean that they've completely removed the tap programming?

I can see how the coding is cool, especially for performances, but for just playing around in the dark I would've thought they need/want to keep the flexibilty of on-the-trot programming...

i don't know for sure, but i would guess that the shock sensor will still be used to access the menus and to turn the props on and off.

they definitely still have the 'change colour on catch' feature (which will also be programmable in the sequencer) so the sensor is definitely in there.

i reckon they'll have the classic aerotech menus with all the functionality of the old toys, plus the infamous MENU SEVEN which i would guess would be used to start the pre-programmed sequence running


cole. x

Wow... a langauge with Jump to commands! That's simple, wince inducing, and extremely old school! </geek>

Nah, it's a script, so it needs functions... although OO clubs would be fun, if totally pointless. You coming along tonight?

Pointerless? ...oh dear, I need to get out more (and so do you if you got that!)

Indeed.. if for no other reason than to collect your garbage..

on a geekie note the tech batteries they will be using will be the early stages of the new ltop deisn batteries, being introduced next year, this is new tech, designed to give 80% charge in a short time, so by next year it is set to be a standard in high drain appliences, and be under an hours charge time.......

i would like to see the clubs before i buy any, and i wonder will they still work 5 mins after i buy them....

also if they are using java, which it looks like they are, what happens if dun microsystems changes the java code again, i knwo it wont be a hassle for the guys who have clubs, as teh code inside will remain teh same, but if you wnat to buy another one, yowu ill have to code in two different langs?