Adding the Pressure sensor

So yeah, we decided to use the pressure sensor now, since we aren't allowed to use the touch sensor. The FlexiForce Pressure Sensor is a flat, flexible plastic 'tape' that detects pressure. Upon pressure added, it returns a value between 0 and 255. A high pressure reading indicates little or no pressure added, whereas a value closer to 0 means that a lot of pressure's added. The threshold we used was to look for any readings less than 200, so that no one would have to press too hard to get a response.

Time to spruce up the project

Ok,

so after seeing other group's presentations today, we felt the need to do more for our own. It appears everyone had some kind of creative theme going on, so we decide our product will be a Cricket and tablet dryer. We do need a fan and a box or something to make our product. Orit told us that we couldn't use the touch sensor so we're lookin for something to replace that. will discuss this at a future meeting...

Completing the project

We got the code to run and the tablet and crickets communicating. The poster is almost done. We can't think of anything more to add to our project's appeal...yet

Cricket and Tablet code & compilation

Here's the combined cricket and tablet code

Compilation Instructions:
-make sure build.xml is in the directory
-all source code is in /src subdirectory
-enter the following lines under command prompt (these commands use build.xml which defines the source directory, .class destination directoreis, and class pathes)
Clean up .class : ant clean
Initialize : ant init
Compile : ant compile
Package : ant package
-to run the file
java -cp lib\classes.jar;lib\comm.jar (class name)

Poster content

Not much accomplished tonight....something wrong with the computer's path or classpath or something. Some other group may have changed it by accident? I don't know. but meanwhile we discussed the poster. It'll just have three sections: overiview, technology, and implementation.

Ajahne and I are tasked to do the poster design and content.

The Next Step

The Next Step is to get the tablet and crickets to communicate. There's only one problem: they are both written in different languages!!!! Tablet has mostly C-based code whereas the crickets use Java. I wasted so much time trying to look up ways for a C program and Java program to interact.... Luckily Zinger ingeniously found some Java code to operate the Tablet!!! Go Zinger!!

Now all we have to do is combine the code...

For now the Java code/API for the Tablet is in here

Wacom Tablet info

The Tablet consists of a flat rectangular 'screen' upon which you can use the stylus (pen) and mouse. The tablet connects directly to your PC via a serial port; the mouse and stylus communicate with the tablet wirelessly but they require batteries.



There's nothing really special about the mouse other than it won't work unless you use it on the Tablet. The stylus is another story. You can perform all functions of the mouse however the tablet recognizes this instrument differently. The Tablet is not merely some 'mouse pad' but it actually represents the monitor screen infront of you, pixels and all. So when you touch the stylus on the right hand corner of the tablet screen, the mouse pointer in the monitor will also go to that exact location of the screen. We also experimented using the stylus with drawing applications (Adobe Photoshop) and found how more useful it was than the mouse for sketching.

There's talk of having the tablet recognize 'gestures' beyond what it already recognizes, for example, to have it recognize a circle or triangle that one draws....that is damn hard. Not even sure that's possible...we decided against it to save time, but it'd be a great idea for some group's final project

check out this site for more details on the tablet: http://www.wacomeng.com/devsupport/pc.html

General Cricket setup information

We first got the crickets working with the PC. We connected the cricket sensor to a serial port on the computer and aimed it toward one of the crickets. On the crickets there are infrared ports that must be appropriately aimed at eachother so that the crickets can communicate. You bring up a Java interface on the PC to type in Logo commands then download them into the crickets via the cricket sensor. These commands remain stored in the crickets so you can run them as many times as you want without have to redownload (unless you change the commands). Some accessories include the motor and the LED light which can be connected or removed from the crickets.

For more information on the cricket Click Here