Alternatives to the Cypress IO

[seg9585]

Is the Cypress PSoC board the only one compatible with the Driver Station I/O feature, or can an Arduino/Beaglebone be used to interface with the DS I/O?

Our Cypress board has broken and I can't seem to find another source for a replacement. I do have an arduino lying around and can use it if possible, but I doubt it's compatible with the FRC-provided firmware.

[wt200999]

Texas Instruments has a HID Joystick boosterpack for the Tiva Launchpad. It enumerates as two joysticks and has a breakout for all axis/buttons.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122587

[Joe Ross]

I've never seen the Cypress protocol published.

You can program the arduino to look like a joystick, if you don't need 4 joysticks. If you want something off the shelf, you can get a Estop Robotics CCI (https://www.estoprobotics.com/estore/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=33)

[Mark McLeod]

Here is the Cypress firmware source if you want to investigate the protocol.

[fovea1959]

while not a replacement for the Cypress, there are more ways to interface arbitrary stuff as a 'joystick': http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html (we used this last year for a custom control panel: our Cypress is long lost!)

Another possibility: a 'joystick' that is software defined and can be actuated by other software running on the PC. http://vjoystick.sourceforge.net/site/. Haven't used it for competition, but have used for testing...

[parkedraccoon]

If you want to use your Arduino, we have used UnoJoy (https://code.google.com/p/unojoy/) with success. It appears to the computer as a regular joystick and so shows up in Driver Station and is compatible.

[seg9585]

Thanks everyone. I can try some of the controller-based solutions. Does anyone know who still sells these Cypress boards? They were on FIRST Choice but it appears Cypress has stopped selling them completely.

[VEI Dude]

Last year when I was with 4024, we had issues with the Cypress I/O and could not get support for it. So we hacked the control board out of a Logitech joystick, traced the switch wiring, and made our own control panel which looked like a joystick on the drivers station.

[taichichuan]

Thanks everyone. I can try some of the controller-based solutions. Does anyone know who still sells these Cypress boards? They were on FIRST Choice but it appears Cypress has stopped selling them completely.

The Cypress board has been discontinued by Cypress Semiconconductor. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a follow-on device for output. But, there are lots of alternatives for inputs including the CCI board from EStop Robotics and the TI Launchpad board from Texas Instruments. Additionally, the Arduino Leonardo also has a mode that makes it behave as a Joystick. I'm just hoping that the 2015 control system gets a way to drive digital outputs at the driver station so we can drive status LEDs for the drivers. Those are much more visible than a virtual LED on the SmartDashboard.

HTH,

Mike