Forums > Technical Discussion > HyperLight Update (21-11-2006)
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old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
Little update for you all (thought I'd start a new thread as the last one was getting a bit big!!). I've been a busy bee tonight and I now have 4 pairs of the MK4 (dare I say final?) boards soldered together... now to get something to put 'em in ready for Synergy!
Non-Https Image Link
Little update for you all (thought I'd start a new thread as the last one was getting a bit big!!). I've been a busy bee tonight and I now have 4 pairs of the MK4 (dare I say final?) boards soldered together... now to get something to put 'em in ready for Synergy!
Non-Https Image Link
Cake or Death?
BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
What are we talking about? We're starting to write a piece of software that will allow you to very quickly and easily put together sequences of colours for your HyperLights to run. We're doing some clever trickery though that means you can run it on Linux, the Mac and Windows!
I've also been investigating getting it to work on the PDA that Garthy has kindly leant to me. It's a little more tricky than normal Windows, but it certainly sounds like it ought to be possible.
What are we talking about? We're starting to write a piece of software that will allow you to very quickly and easily put together sequences of colours for your HyperLights to run. We're doing some clever trickery though that means you can run it on Linux, the Mac and Windows!
I've also been investigating getting it to work on the PDA that Garthy has kindly leant to me. It's a little more tricky than normal Windows, but it certainly sounds like it ought to be possible.
Cake or Death?
BRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Posted:
PDA is a cool idea
What aboout a client for updating the hyperlights on a phone (many have USB ports now) so that you can update (but not create sequences) on the move, and swap them over bluetooth/ir on the move in the same way as you can with ringtones etc.
PDA is a cool idea
What aboout a client for updating the hyperlights on a phone (many have USB ports now) so that you can update (but not create sequences) on the move, and swap them over bluetooth/ir on the move in the same way as you can with ringtones etc.
There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees
BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
That's what Garthy's device is. It runs Windows Mobile 2003. The problem with devices like this is that very few are able to host to other devices (most are designed as slaves so they can be plugged into a PC). Garthy's will require some updates to get it going, but I've found a detailed description of how to get the USB working the way I need it ...of course getting my USB drivers re-compiled for the PDA is going to be a whole lot of 'fun' too
That's what Garthy's device is. It runs Windows Mobile 2003. The problem with devices like this is that very few are able to host to other devices (most are designed as slaves so they can be plugged into a PC). Garthy's will require some updates to get it going, but I've found a detailed description of how to get the USB working the way I need it ...of course getting my USB drivers re-compiled for the PDA is going to be a whole lot of 'fun' too
Cake or Death?
BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
...oh and Meg; I've very nearly finished a programming spec ready for a small compiler / linker I'm writing. The output from that will then feed into the USB software which will program the hardware
...oh and Meg; I've very nearly finished a programming spec ready for a small compiler / linker I'm writing. The output from that will then feed into the USB software which will program the hardware
Cake or Death?
PLATINUM Member
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom
Posted:
is it possible for the hyperlight to link to a powerless usb pen / use flash storage stick sort of thing, (having a memory block on the name.) if 1gb ones are dirt cheap, I wonder how cheap 100kb ones are. You could load a hyperlight program on the memory and carry lots around with you, without the need for a 'puter. Then you've just plug it in and the hyperlight would download the programming automatically. plus then you could appeal to a completely computer illiterate user by selling pre-made programs for it. Depends I guess on availibity and cost of tiny usb flash drives.
is it possible for the hyperlight to link to a powerless usb pen / use flash storage stick sort of thing, (having a memory block on the name.) if 1gb ones are dirt cheap, I wonder how cheap 100kb ones are. You could load a hyperlight program on the memory and carry lots around with you, without the need for a 'puter. Then you've just plug it in and the hyperlight would download the programming automatically. plus then you could appeal to a completely computer illiterate user by selling pre-made programs for it. Depends I guess on availibity and cost of tiny usb flash drives.
"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade
I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.
BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
I suspect it would be a lot of hassle.. and to me that seems fairly unnecessary. the Hyperlight has storage for something like 6k instructions which is a LOT!
They will ship with as many patterns as I've made so straight away, people will have something to get going. My goal though is to make the GUI so easy to use that anyone can use it to do some very cool stuff without having a degree in computer science.
There's nothing a USB mass storage device would add to that IMHO
I suspect it would be a lot of hassle.. and to me that seems fairly unnecessary. the Hyperlight has storage for something like 6k instructions which is a LOT!
They will ship with as many patterns as I've made so straight away, people will have something to get going. My goal though is to make the GUI so easy to use that anyone can use it to do some very cool stuff without having a degree in computer science.
There's nothing a USB mass storage device would add to that IMHO
Cake or Death?
SILVER Member
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Posted:
I've seen some 32mb ones kicking about now, 128mb is the lowest I'd ever heard of before, the 32mb ones are more expensive though, lol. (though it's a matter of pence on drives that are all £4-£5)
anyway, the problem would be how would you choose what set to load from the drive?
I've seen some 32mb ones kicking about now, 128mb is the lowest I'd ever heard of before, the 32mb ones are more expensive though, lol. (though it's a matter of pence on drives that are all £4-£5)
anyway, the problem would be how would you choose what set to load from the drive?
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SILVER Member
Tosser
1,712 posts
Location: Bristol,UK
Tosser
1,712 posts
Location: Bristol,UK
Posted:
Uhhhh WOW!
They look SO cool.
Please be put down as a tester?
[/naughty boy]
Uhhhh WOW!
They look SO cool.
Please be put down as a tester?
[/naughty boy]
PLATINUM Member
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom
Posted:
it would choose the first one on the flash memory, or the flashmemory would only be big enough to hold one.
If you've seen the ejc vid, you've seen those three clubs jugglers do a 6 ish minute routine with loads of changes in their ultimate clubs, timed exactly to the music. I don't know how big that pattern was, but if you have more than a couple of routines like that, and a need to change programming without being near a friendly computer, it could be useful. (not being around computers! UNTHINKABLE!)
it would choose the first one on the flash memory, or the flashmemory would only be big enough to hold one.
If you've seen the ejc vid, you've seen those three clubs jugglers do a 6 ish minute routine with loads of changes in their ultimate clubs, timed exactly to the music. I don't know how big that pattern was, but if you have more than a couple of routines like that, and a need to change programming without being near a friendly computer, it could be useful. (not being around computers! UNTHINKABLE!)
"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade
I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.
SILVER Member
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Posted:
eh?
eh?
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SILVER Member
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Posted:
the eh was at chutney..
don't think I'll be able to discuss this till I've got some idea of what the filetypes like myself..
the eh was at chutney..
don't think I'll be able to discuss this till I've got some idea of what the filetypes like myself..
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BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
Even if you were changing on average about four times per second, you'd still be using less than 1500 instructions ...and that's not taking into account the fact that probably a lot of the parts of those routines could be broken down into a few common functions.
I think I can see what you're getting at: If you're a performer and you're off doing a series of gigs you don't want limited storage causing you problems. That said, I would think most serious performers that use LED toys like HyperLights would probably have some sort of mobile computer (laptop, PDA etc etc).
If you wanted to access USB mass storage devices I think I'd have to alter the behaviour of the HyperLight to act as a USB host. I've not looked into that and I'm not even sure if it's possible with the chip I'm using... but I'll look into it
Even if you were changing on average about four times per second, you'd still be using less than 1500 instructions ...and that's not taking into account the fact that probably a lot of the parts of those routines could be broken down into a few common functions.
I think I can see what you're getting at: If you're a performer and you're off doing a series of gigs you don't want limited storage causing you problems. That said, I would think most serious performers that use LED toys like HyperLights would probably have some sort of mobile computer (laptop, PDA etc etc).
If you wanted to access USB mass storage devices I think I'd have to alter the behaviour of the HyperLight to act as a USB host. I've not looked into that and I'm not even sure if it's possible with the chip I'm using... but I'll look into it
Cake or Death?
SILVER Member
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Posted:
coo, so there's room for 4 sequences of that size on the chip already
coo, so there's room for 4 sequences of that size on the chip already
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BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
Roughly speaking, yes. Maybe there's a market for a 'Pro' version with external storage
I had a quick look at the spec for the controller on the HyperLights and as I suspected; it will only work as a peripheral
Roughly speaking, yes. Maybe there's a market for a 'Pro' version with external storage
I had a quick look at the spec for the controller on the HyperLights and as I suspected; it will only work as a peripheral
Cake or Death?
BRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Posted:
Do you know anything about those phone unlockers? You can load some mobile fireware on them, then load that on to a phone. It would be interesting to see if they can be used to write to any usb device...
Do you know anything about those phone unlockers? You can load some mobile fireware on them, then load that on to a phone. It would be interesting to see if they can be used to write to any usb device...
There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees
BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
No I'm afraid I don't know much.. aren't they USB devices that plug into a regular phone though?
If you had a device that acted as a USB host, you could get it to run a simplified version of the hyperwriter software. Mind you, that's going to require external hardware like a laptop (or a PDA phone which are already supported as soon as I can get things compiled on windows mobile!)
No I'm afraid I don't know much.. aren't they USB devices that plug into a regular phone though?
If you had a device that acted as a USB host, you could get it to run a simplified version of the hyperwriter software. Mind you, that's going to require external hardware like a laptop (or a PDA phone which are already supported as soon as I can get things compiled on windows mobile!)
Cake or Death?
BRONZE Member
Groovy ga watashi no namae desu!
1,530 posts
Location: Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Groovy ga watashi no namae desu!
1,530 posts
Location: Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Posted:
changing the sequence on a frickin PA, dood that [censored] is wack!
but seriously, that is cool
also mac friendly good job lads
changing the sequence on a frickin PA, dood that [censored] is wack!
but seriously, that is cool
also mac friendly
good job lads I like Languages.
Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hug.gif" alt="" />
newbie
21 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
21 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posted:
oh oh im gonna be getting myself a new nokia in the spring with the ability to be a USB host (nokia n95) and its running symbian OS9.. wheres the compatability for that? ahh i jest, all is going great jon and my creditcard is winging its way here so ill b all set to fork out when they hit the market or you gimme the option to be the irish tester )
oh oh im gonna be getting myself a new nokia in the spring with the ability to be a USB host (nokia n95) and its running symbian OS9.. wheres the compatability for that?
ahh i jest, all is going great jon and my creditcard is winging its way here so ill b all set to fork out when they hit the market or you gimme the option to be the irish tester ) "If you roll a pencil is it still stationary?"
BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
@Meg (and any other developers): My first hack at the programming spec. It will probably change a little in the coming weeks and I've a few more commands to add. Feel free to leave comments either on the site or here and I'll do my best to answer them.
Similarly, if there are other commands you'd like to see on there, feel free to add them. Maybe we need a wish list?
@Meg (and any other developers): My first hack at the programming spec. It will probably change a little in the coming weeks and I've a few more commands to add. Feel free to leave comments either on the site or here and I'll do my best to answer them.
Similarly, if there are other commands you'd like to see on there, feel free to add them. Maybe we need a wish list?
Cake or Death?
GOLD Member
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Posted:
OMG um... I've missed a lot of updates
Anyone fancy giving moi a 5 word summary?
OMG um... I've missed a lot of updates
Anyone fancy giving moi a 5 word summary?
BRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Posted:
1) Hyperlights
2) are
3) cooler
4) than
5) ever
1) Hyperlights
2) are
3) cooler
4) than
5) ever
There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees
GOLD Member
hehe, 'Member' huhuh
6,120 posts
Location: Behind you. With Jam
hehe, 'Member' huhuh
6,120 posts
Location: Behind you. With Jam
Posted:
1) Jon's
2) Still
3) Sexy
4) As
5) Folk...
1) Jon's
2) Still
3) Sexy
4) As
5) Folk...
"I used to want to change the world, now I just wanna leave the room with a little dignity..." - Lotus Weinstock
BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
Lol, I'd have said:
1) Website
2) Accelerometers
3) New..
4) ...GUI
5) Chocolate
Lol, I'd have said:
1) Website
2) Accelerometers
3) New..
4) ...GUI
5) Chocolate
Cake or Death?
PLATINUM Member
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom
Posted:
nice one!
Your website works not well with firefox...
otherwise here are my critique on the specs:
make it more obvious how to 'dim' the hyperlights. Currently your gonna have to use the Fadecolour command back to rgb, 0,0,0 right? Will that always work correctly for all colours? I mean if it just decrements each rgb values by a set amount, surely one is gonna hit zero before the others and the colour will change on the dimness... Maybe not, I have very little idea how light mixing colour pallette shenanigans work.
I think the Wend command should be changed to Wendy.
Everything else I can think of can be handled by the gui, so it's all good.
I take it your not going to allow nested while loops?
nice one!
Your website works not well with firefox...
otherwise here are my critique on the specs:
make it more obvious how to 'dim' the hyperlights. Currently your gonna have to use the Fadecolour command back to rgb, 0,0,0 right? Will that always work correctly for all colours? I mean if it just decrements each rgb values by a set amount, surely one is gonna hit zero before the others and the colour will change on the dimness... Maybe not, I have very little idea how light mixing colour pallette shenanigans work.
I think the Wend command should be changed to Wendy.
Everything else I can think of can be handled by the gui, so it's all good.
I take it your not going to allow nested while loops?
"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade
I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.
SILVER Member
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Posted:
works just fine in firefox here..
6. Yakumo Hemorrhaging
works just fine in firefox here..
6. Yakumo Hemorrhaging
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PLATINUM Member
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom
Posted:
the input boxes go past the width of the blue menu bar on the left. Especially the e-mail one. Firefox 2.0..... yum yum...
the input boxes go past the width of the blue menu bar on the left. Especially the e-mail one. Firefox 2.0..... yum yum...
"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade
I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.
BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
There's an additional 'dim' command that I've not yet stuck on there which adjusts the output from all three simultaneously, but I've not yet found a way of implementing it that feels neat enough for a GUI.. I'll keep pondering on that one.
The fadecolour command will work regardless of what colour you start from and fade to. So a command like:
setcolour,10,255,50,0
fadecolour,11,0,49,1000
...would work as you'd expect, fading the colours smoothly over 1s. I've just been re-coding the firmware this week so that you don't have to specify the colour to start from (previously, it was down to the user / GUI to pre-calculate how much to fade per MS... and it wasn't very accurate either).
If you wanted to know what colours you'd go through to get from one to another, drawing a straight line across the palette on the right of the following image should show you:
Non-Https Image Link
Wend can be a girls name too.. deal with it
You can nest while loops. I can't remember the figures off the top of my head, but I think the limit is over 100.. and if you're that deep, you're definitely doing something wrong :P
What version of Firefox are you using? What's broken? Looks fine in FF 2.0 to me...
There's an additional 'dim' command that I've not yet stuck on there which adjusts the output from all three simultaneously, but I've not yet found a way of implementing it that feels neat enough for a GUI.. I'll keep pondering on that one.
The fadecolour command will work regardless of what colour you start from and fade to. So a command like:
setcolour,10,255,50,0
fadecolour,11,0,49,1000
...would work as you'd expect, fading the colours smoothly over 1s. I've just been re-coding the firmware this week so that you don't have to specify the colour to start from (previously, it was down to the user / GUI to pre-calculate how much to fade per MS... and it wasn't very accurate either).
If you wanted to know what colours you'd go through to get from one to another, drawing a straight line across the palette on the right of the following image should show you:
Non-Https Image Link
Wend can be a girls name too.. deal with it
You can nest while loops. I can't remember the figures off the top of my head, but I think the limit is over 100.. and if you're that deep, you're definitely doing something wrong :P
What version of Firefox are you using? What's broken? Looks fine in FF 2.0 to me...
Cake or Death?
SILVER Member
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Posted:
oh wow, it goes via luminescence
(disclaimer: skanky 256bpp gif is not representative of actual current product)
oh wow, it goes via luminescence
(disclaimer: skanky 256bpp gif is not representative of actual current product)
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BRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]
Posted:
Er.. does it?
We currently have a problem in that any colour values below 40 won't make the LEDs light which brings the range of colours down a bit. I have some cunning plans to get round this although it may involve a minor(ish) hardware change
Er.. does it?
We currently have a problem in that any colour values below 40 won't make the LEDs light which brings the range of colours down a bit. I have some cunning plans to get round this although it may involve a minor(ish) hardware change
Cake or Death?
SILVER Member
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
veteran
1,237 posts
Location: Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Posted:
well, that's what the bar on the right of the pallet represents... so I figured you'd done some funky math to make it use that, so you didn't have the problem MCP described.
decreasing luminescence by 1 is not the same as decreasing r g and b by 1 at the same time.
well, that's what the bar on the right of the pallet represents... so I figured you'd done some funky math to make it use that, so you didn't have the problem MCP described.
decreasing luminescence by 1 is not the same as decreasing r g and b by 1 at the same time.
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