custom hardware

stealthc · 11-19-2006, 01:55 PM

Just wondering what people have done with regards to their custom hardware projects. I'd certainly love to see a thread on the subject that covers it a little better than what I've seen, so I'm starting one.

So I guess a good place to start would be with interfaces, anybody got any thoughts on the subject before I post mine?

stealthc · 11-19-2006, 02:07 PM

For the interface it is ideal to either use USB or WIRELESS.

Wireless would likely use a USB bridge, however, it could possibly operate strictly as a bluetooth device (a good example of this would be bluetooth keyboards).

The most desireable approach would be to use an interface that eliminates the need for specialized drivers, however, if some are needed having them made may not be too tough.

So the first goal of the hardware working group, would be to come up with a means of handling both wired and wireless interfaces and establish as effective of a cost as possible on the project.

Here are some suggested prices:

$60 for keyboard emulator, wired, usb.
$5 to $30 for a wireless game controller (which has an interface).

or on a more basic level one could get excellent value on a pooled project for interfaces designed on pcb.

There's two things needed towards getting this goal met, so we all have decent interfaces to work with so we can be free to focus on the more important things with your custom interface.

One problem I encountered with the keyboard emulator approach is that it lacks wireless (and makes it an even bigger problem because nobody really makes affordable wireless usb repeater/relay) support and the operational voltage is 3-5 volts, for obvious reasons since it is powered by the usb bus.

I'm going to do some surfing around on some semiconductor manufacturers websites and find a suitable interface as well as come up with some information regarding implementation. I'll post here because it has some advantages wireless gaming controllers does not (which I'll get into later)

stealthc · 11-19-2006, 02:23 PM

I would say the cc2400 is a great choice, found here:
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slab052/slab052.pdf

now about getting this shit to work that's the other problem, and what the price is for the devkit....

Mooga · 11-20-2006, 10:09 AM

I'm actually trying to put together a local team to build a 100% legal SM arcade project for my college. But trying to put a team together isn't the easiest thing in the world

stealthc · 11-21-2006, 08:41 PM

yeah it gets a little rough don't it? Either way doing what you want to do should technically be an easy enough job for a single person.

I would have no problems building an actual ddr machine but since actually diving into that project, along with other related development projects I have consistantly hit walls with the hardware.

It's a little rediculous.

Anyways I've had some talk about interfaces, but perhaps buttons are more interesting.

It would seem most buttons do not feature pressure sensitivity, and threshold adjustment -- the things needed to make a perfect switch for an interface for a game such as ddr.

I have developed a technology which may be put to use in people's customized controllers, and dance pads/mats. Yes I did say dancemats. This technology is incredibly reliable and based on slightly more advanced technology on the market (but hey, simple is better and more in demand), either way what I have made is by definition a unique invention with it's own merit.

So the first step in my business plans is to figure out what people would like best. It can be made in such a wide array of configurations. Thin or thick, flexible or rigid, solid or even with holes in it (maybe run fiber optic lighting in there?).

If anybody with enough talent out there in ddrland wants a decent business partner I'd be pretty open to entertaining such notions, though don't expect full disclosure of my IP without some sort of legal assurances (NDA & non-competition).

I have other inventions along the way but I feel the prettiest one is the simplest.

stealthc · 11-21-2006, 08:57 PM

I really hate the amount of work it takes to get this stuff going!

But here's something I was mulling over and that would be to find a host for my pack. When I first started playing stepmania and SMO i ran into countless issues with consistancy of music and I have a candidate release for my quality pack.

Here's the idea, anything which I may have missed or overlooked is game for anybody to fix and send back. If you don't wanna fix whatever the issue is, then just let me know I'll post it in my .plan

The goal here is the same, to get the most quality pack out there where beginners can actually start with something instead of having to relentlessly sift through crap. I would like people to be two file downloads away from really playing stepmania, one click on the software itself, the other on my pack.

I don't really care to take much credit, rather, I would prefer to see DDR more open to people and I feel that my projects which are all beginning to culminate will do as much. I'm willing to spend thousands of my own person cash, and hundreds of hours of my time to prove it. The release of the Quality pack candidate release will serve to show people just how dedicated I am. There are lots of little tweaks, but I am sure with the help of the community which will end up using this resource it can get to the level which we all want.

So who out there would like to be a host? it's pretty huge library, 1.2GB in size, so believe me it was a hell of alot of work!!

stealthc · 11-22-2006, 04:16 PM

Today I scored myself a new laptop. I've owned this one for about 2 months now but I was bait and switched, due to a mistake on part of lg and the store I was dealing with (both made mistakes). I finally worked out a deal and I'm impressed, lg bailed their client out -- the computer store I dealt with -- BIG TIME!

I was first offered a model that would be $250 more expensive, but it still didn't match the specs provided in the ad under which I'd purchased my laptop, it didn't come with xp pro.

So I had a look in the computer store's thing and found a laptop which did (though it was significantly more expensive). I offered to pay the difference between the two but the manager said otherwise leaving me saving only $150.

I had already lost a day of work over this, had spent god knows how many hours trying to deal with this, had my departure to calgary delayed because of this to a point where I may as well stay down here for the holidays. I lose out on the cash I could be making up there.

So I called the lg area rep up again who made me another offer, a laptop which I looked up and is worth $1,499 and fits everything that I need. WAY TO GO LG FOR BAILING YOUR CLIENTS OUT! That is some excellent business and aside from having the most annoying telephone service system (repetitive advertisement music and constant dumping back into a cue, difficult to transfer and deal with only 1 person) I have dealt with in a while, I would say on pat's part, the area rep for LG, he should be commended for the way he handled the situation since I'm pleased and I'm sure his client is extrodinarily pleased with the result (since I'm sure at that point lg assumed responsibility for the operating system mixup).

After this experience, I probably will buy lg products again but I really am a little upset with how difficult it was getting results through the computer store which I'd dealt with (as I'm sure they were gunna trade in what I would have traded in on the deal and the computer store would get the better laptop, and technically profit $50 from the deal I had worked out with lg, which is not very fair on lg at all).

I think in the end when I have my new laptop I'll write a letter to Pat's boss, explaining the whole situation and what he did.

stealthc · 11-22-2006, 08:39 PM

I'm have some icefiltered wine to celebrate.... a while ago I made this batch of wine and turned it into ice in the freezer, then drained off what was still liquid, two cups to plastardland... woohoo! Yeah it's illegal to do that but it's all gone now so who cares...muhahahaha
I threw what was left over (the ice) back into the never ending batch of liquor I have brewing in my closet.

I shouldn't indulge in this too often I don't think but tonight is a special occasion....

Now about getting a host.....

Please can someone capable of hosting at least look at what I have, believe me it's some good stuff and I have no doubt there'll be agreement with that.

stealthc · 11-23-2006, 06:37 AM

I'm dumb maybe I should pm mooga....lol...

stealthc · 11-25-2006, 01:04 PM

gotten some chat about hosting but not quite enough.... so rather than worrying about hosts that really don't wanna carry such a huge file maybe I can send to some new guys in the community and get the file seeded amongst some members and through sharing software like gnutella network and bit-torrent...

Any takers or thoughts on the subject?