Hardware Dragon TImer
Pigcomet.8397:
So, I’ve been seeing a lot of software API development. But, where’s the love for hardware? Creating a website is cool, but what about a stand-alone dedicated dragon timer that does not require a PC?
Well, I decided to do just that. It’s a work in progress, but it’s coming along nicely.
Workstation and parts: http://i.imgur.com/8HbKIxM.jpg?1
Testing the LCD: http://i.imgur.com/nHUmhRy.jpg?1
I’m working on the Ethernet, JSON, and timer library/code.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time lately, so this may take awhile.
multivira.7925:
I have to say, that’s pretty epic
I think the reason there’s less love for hardware is that generally less people posses that skill
I know I certainly don’t, don’t really go far beyond screwing in a light bulb when it comes to my useless hands.
zwei.9073:
I think that some keyboards have small LCD display that can be used for such thing as well.
GW2 uses that to display area completition, but dragon timers would be much more usefull.
Pigcomet.8397:
I think that some keyboards have small LCD display that can be used for such thing as well.
GW2 uses that to display area completition, but dragon timers would be much more usefull.
That’s not a bad idea, but it’s still using a pre-existing hardware and platform. It’s much more fun to build it from scratch.
Yoone.9461:
You’ve just made my day, you’re a genius
Feel free to release every doc you can do/write on your work, I think it will be much appreciated by the community.
Killer Rhino.6794:
This is so cool!
UrMom.4205:
this is pretty awesome, I wanna see this on like a scrolling ticker display like the stock market lol. Breaking apart form the website ideas, i’d love to see a gadget or some stand alone app for the computer that would display the times, instead of having to pull up a website every time.
The Talcmaster.7391:
This is one of those totally unnecessary, but absolutely awesome things. Makes me want to break out some of my old dev boards…
Pigcomet.8397:
Thanks guys!
So, I was at the electronics store buying some parts, and I found a 5.7" 320 × 240 touch screen TFT that is HTML enabled. You program the board in HTML, which supports images, touch, links, forms, and more. It’s pretty cheap at only $35, and I think this may make this project over the top. Imagine the stuff web developers are making right now with this API, but on a black and white 5.7" TFT display!
Here’s the display: http://media.digikey.com/photos/Amulet%20Tech%20Photos/Amulet_AOBB.jpg
Anyways, my project was on hold because I did not have the connector needed for my Ethernet adapter. I’ll be working on getting my board online tonight.
Pigcomet.8397:
My Dragon Timer is now online, now it’s time to program the JSON module to pull the data from ArenaNet’s servers.
Ethernet Connected: http://i.imgur.com/b8oXNJx.jpg?1
Internal Webpage: http://i.imgur.com/dacRyTx.jpg
Hopefully I’ll be able to get everything set up before tomorrow night. Next week I’ll buy the 5.7" touchscreen LCD and make an interactive WvW and Dragon timer page!
Mystery.7392:
Pretty nice stuff there!
Keep the work going
multivira.7925:
I’m really loving this, keep us posted on your progress!
Pigcomet.8397:
Thanks guys.
I have two exams this week, so I’m not going to get a lot of progress done as the next part is pure-coding, and a little bit more complicated. (Gathering the JSON data and reporting it)
Hopefully I’ll have some more time next weekend, or a little bit of time after my exams are done.
The Talcmaster.7391:
Ok, couple of questions for you:
1) Is this meant to be able to plug into a router and be completely stand-alone without a computer? I’m assuming that it is.
2) What type of language are you programming it in? Assembly? VHDL? Verilog?
Looking forward to seeing what you can come up with.
Pigcomet.8397:
Ok, couple of questions for you:
1) Is this meant to be able to plug into a router and be completely stand-alone without a computer? I’m assuming that it is.
2) What type of language are you programming it in? Assembly? VHDL? Verilog?Looking forward to seeing what you can come up with.
Yes, stand-alone. It’s also programmed in C. (VHDL/Verilog is usually for FPGA; assembly is usually not needed for a micro-controller, plus it’s architecture specific. )
I bought myself a new LCD to power my clock. It’s going to be insane. it supports images, touch, links, html, Java, and more…
http://i.imgur.com/cu0hg9A.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/hovEwmT.jpg?1
I’m just waiting until Friday when my DB9 – USB cable comes in so I can program it.
It’s an interesting LCD. It will compile HTML, Java, etc for use. For example, this will compile and display on the screen:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN”>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV=“Content-Type” CONTENT=“text/html;CHARSET=iso-8859-1”>
<TITLE>Hello World</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<TABLE BORDER=“0” CELLPADDING=“0” CELLSPACING=“0” WIDTH=“320” HEIGHT=“240”>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=“320” HEIGHT=“180”>
<CENTER>
<P><IMG SRC=“Images/hello.gif” WIDTH=“144” HEIGHT=“107” ALIGN=“BOTTOM” BORDER=“0”><FONT
FACE=“Amulet Sans Serif”><BR>
</FONT><B><FONT SIZE=“5” FACE=“Amulet Sans Serif”>Hello, World!<BR>
<BR>
</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=“5” FACE=“Amulet Sans Serif”>
<HR ALIGN=“CENTER” WIDTH=“80%”>
</FONT>
</CENTER>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=“320” HEIGHT=“60”>
<P ALIGN=“CENTER”><FONT FACE=“Amulet Sans Serif”>Touch </FONT><B><A HREF=“info.htm”><FONT FACE=“Amulet Sans Serif”>Here</FONT></A></B><FONT
FACE=“Amulet Sans Serif”>, for more Info.</FONT>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
</BODY>
</HTML>
And:
<TD WIDTH="174" HEIGHT="138"> <div align="right"><applet code="LinePlot.class" width="166" height="92" align="BOTTOM" name="Plot">
<param name="href" value="Amulet:math.randomByte.value()">
<param name="yMin" value="0">
<param name="yMax" value="255">
<param name="xSamples" value="16">
<param name="lineWeight" value="2">
<param name="updateRate" value=".25">
</applet></div>
The Talcmaster.7391:
Darn, I was hoping to have found another fan of FPGAs. That screen was a good investment, looks like it will handle a lot of the work for you. Almost feels like cheating…
Killer Rhino.6794:
Keep it up, Pigvomit. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
Pigcomet.8397:
Darn, I was hoping to have found another fan of FPGAs. That screen was a good investment, looks like it will handle a lot of the work for you. Almost feels like cheating…
I like a good FPGA, but it’s not a good use for this project. Also, the screen is more work than a simple LCD. With a simple LCD you can use an if statement to display the latest dragon timer, which is pretty easy. However, with the new screen I need to program the HTML, test it, and learn how to interface the microcontroller with the screen. I haven’t found a ton of documentation on using the RX and TX pins on the screen yet.
Anyways, here’s a quick prototype of the home screen for my hardware platform.
http://i.imgur.com/VY7bKNq.jpg?1
Pigcomet.8397:
I just finished finals, so I’ll have more time to work and complete this project.
However, I just received a Raspberry Pi Model B, which for all intents and purposes is a Linux computer (700Mhz, 512MB ram) with GPIO pins built in, and it’s the size of a credit card. It has HDMI, USB, ethernet, etc built in. I’m wondering if I should port everything over to the Pi and code everything in Python.
Although at what point does this turn into a normal computer app? I don’t know.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs
Yamagawa.5941:
I was kind of expecting a small LED display which counted down. Possibly with a dial to select event ,and branded on the back with a server name. shrug
Be interesting to see where this goes, but…. At what point does it stop being a small hardware solution and start being a tablet device with a dragon timer applet?
Still, its gotta be fun to work on something so unique, which is half the point – Having fun making something unique.
//Yamagawa