RS232 (Serial) Communication To OI

[bglass]

Sounds good. Since the consensus seems to be that the microcontroller is the best way to go, I guess I'll have to look into that. If anybody has any suggestions on which to use (or how to get started), please let me know. Best wishes.

[Greg Marra]

Originally Posted by bglass

Sounds good. Since the consensus seems to be that the microcontroller is the best way to go, I guess I'll have to look into that. If anybody has any suggestions on which to use (or how to get started), please let me know. Best wishes.

Having used PIC 18F2455's in an introduction to mechatronics course, I would recommend them. They can be programmed by an inexpensive programmer and support USB communication in addition to RS232. You'll need to use another chip (A MAX232, or similar) to turn the serial from your serial port into the type of serial the PIC likes (there is a voltage difference).

The PIC is programmed in MPLAB, just like the FRC controller. For a bunch of documentation about how to get the PIC to do specific things, I send you to the website of the course I took. It's full of goodies!

But once you can send data to the PIC, you just need to set some digital output pins, some analog output pins, and make them do what the computer says. You could even listen to the feedback LED pins and send them back to the computer for two-way communication.

[6600gt]

I am working on application that allows you to simulate all four joysticks(2 at any given time) through the program port on the RC. You need to connect the OI to run but thats all. Yes, there will be some interrupt and code overhead but unless you are pushing the processor to the limit it should work for most things. It also has other features. I am concentrating on the DataView and Camera right now but I will work on the Joystick if you require.

The pic and other hardware way is quite possible but also quite messy. PIC, D/A converter, MAX232, code and more code...
Do you know how to access the serial port on the PC using Java?

I have a pic of what it looks like:

[bglass]

Awesome. Thanks for the help everybody. As I have quite a bit of time left on my project, I think I'll probably try both methods (microcontroller and programming port) to see which works better (at least for my purposes). I think I have a pretty good basis (at least for the microcontroller based operation).

As far as the program goes...looks phenomenal so far. Communicating with serial port via Java isn't the most fun thing to do, but I can help you out with it. You're going to need the Java.Comm class (which isn't really hosted anymore). I have a copy that I managed to scrounge up from some of my older programming stuff. Shoot me a message and I'll send it over to you. It's got some decent documentation with it and I should still be able to help you some with it (it's been a while).

Thanks for the help everybody...I knew coming to ChiefDelphi would pay off...

[6600gt]

Originally Posted by bglass

As far as the program goes...looks phenomenal so far. Communicating with serial port via Java isn't the most fun thing to do, but I can help you out with it. You're going to need the Java.Comm class (which isn't really hosted anymore).

Thanks, but I was just wondering. I am using the .NET serialport class so its easy to use.

The DataView(along with the graphing) has been field tested during the 2007 season. It saved my life, especially when I was trying to debug 3 different robots.

I was actually working on a similar project without a computer interface though. Did a lot of research but never put it into practice. I have done a lot of development on the PICs though.