Documentation

[diabl0w]

This seems like an awesome project... do you have any documentation for it for making a device?

[Nazrax]

Thanks for your interest! I don't have any docs yet, but I'd be happy to write something up in the next couple of days.

[diabl0w]

That would be awesome! Although be wary that I am very inexperienced with hardware and so a simple schematic would not be of use to me. I only say this because I do not want you to waste your valuable time writing a doc that I wouldn't be able to follow. I will try to learn to fill in the gaps of what I don't know.

On Mar 14, 2018 7:45 AM, "Adrian Abraham" notifications@github.com wrote:

Thanks for your interest! I don't have any docs yet, but I'd be happy to write something up in the next couple of days.

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[Nazrax]

I've put some stuff on the wiki. At a minimum, I'm going to try to finish up the TODOs I left scattered around, but I'd like to know if this is what you're looking for. I'm still very much an amateur at this stuff, so hopefully this isn't too crazy for you :) Then again, that probably means it's messier than a pro would make it ...

[diabl0w]

Thank you Nazrax! This actually doesn't look as overwhelming as I thought it would be... although I would anticipate it is going to take me a few months to put this all together as time is precious for me currently. The note about using a laser printer was actually super helpful. When you get the chance, I think it would be helpful to have specific products listed for things such as the IR sensors. That would save me a lot of troubleshooting. I do plan on pursuing this project, I just have absolutely no idea when it will start or end, but as long as it doesn't become overwhelming then I hope to return to you with some good news!

[Nazrax]

Sorry, I marked this as "read" without putting it on my to-do list, then totally forgot about it! I'm happy to bulk up the docs, though it'll take me a few days.

[Nazrax]

Do you know C and/or microcontroller programming?

[Nazrax]

I've updated the docs with specific products. Let me know if I left anything out!

[diabl0w]

The wiki looks fantastic and pretty foolproof even with my lack of experience. I've programmed arduinos and other micro's like the esp8266. However, this has basically been limited to taking someone else's code and hooking them up to my Linux system and running a few commands (with a program called platformio) and that's it.

The only things that seems a little confusing for me after reviewing the wiki is the communications adapter. I have an ftdi adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NAY1VJ2?psc=1). Will this work? I am sure I will be able to figure things out a little better once I have all the parts in my possession and follow the instructions step by step.

Etching the controller board is going to be a big new thing it seems, but tutorials online make it seem relatively easy considering how big of a feat it sounds to be. the part numbers are a huge help because I won't have to worry about compatibility issues. That will be the biggest hurdle of this projects is that I will be doing most things just because it's "what the wiki tells me to do" rather than me actually understanding the purpose of each step. However I anticipate to learn a lot along the way as well. Thank you so much for the help!

[Nazrax]

You need two different things: an FTDI USB<->Serial adapter - just like the one you have - and an AVR "ISP" programmer. Unlike Arduinos, which have a bootloader which can talk over the FTDI, I'm using "bare" chips without a bootloader which require an ISP programmer (short for "in system programming") to get the code on. It looks like the official Arduino site has instructions on using an Arduino an an ISP. I don't have any Arduinos around, so I use a dedicated programmer. I own the Olimex ISP500, but I expect that something like this one would work fine.

Have you done any C coding? While this project is in a pretty good state, it's still somewhat "research" and probably needs tweaking to reach its full potential.

[diabl0w]

That is an interesting link about the arduino as a programmer... I think it would probably be easier just to order a legitimate ISP programmer such as the one you showed.

I've never done any C coding, I'm not against learning at some point but I'm going back to school soon so it's not high on the priority list. I'd like to be able to know enough to at least read and follow C coding though

[diabl0w]

Although this is a niche area, I think seeing relatively active, open source development you may soon see a few others chime in at some point since there is really no other project like this as far as I can see. For me, as someone who just does these things every now and then as a hobby, this is more of a long term project for myself and be able to cintribute feedback rather than actual code development. that may change at some point when I find more time to get involved but that is very long term ~year

[Nazrax]

I've known C for a long time, but it's not something I use on a regular basis, so while I don't think this code is terrible, I'm also sure it's not great :)

As long as you're going into this eyes-open (so to speak ...), I look forward to receiving feedback from you!