Leverage Processing/Wiring with Parallax Libraries

Zoot

What that said, e.g., it would be great to have Parallax supported libraries for these open-source and utterly cross-platform IDEs. Processing in particular would be great, so that folks who want their embedded apps to interface with desktops/laptops, etc., would not need to resort to PC-centric products like .NET or VisualBasic, or more esoteric languages such as Ruby and Python.

http://processing.org
http://wiring.uniandes.edu.co/

schill

Is there really much need for a specialized library to talk with a prop or stamp? Processing supports serial connections to whatever you want to connect to your computer. Programs on the computer and microprocessor can send whatever information you want back and forth - all you need to do is interpret it at either end.

Zoot

Yes, I think there is a strong case to made. First, to have consistent constants for commonly available baud rates on the Stamp/Prop (e.g. with Pbasic, PropBasic, etc) would make it "plug and play" for the users of all abilities. Likewise, the ability to use the built-in RS-232 serial port on a Stamp requires that comm. with the PC "discard" the echo-ed characters for proper comm.

I also think there would be a strong case to be made in using the built-in 3-D capabilities of Processing to provide a ready-to-go model of the Boe-bot and the Scribbler 2 -- there are lots of examples online of folks who have modeled their 'bots in Processing and manipulate the model onscreen to effect moves on the actual 'bot. Given the S2's high-res encoders and ready-to-go objects for moving in a cartesian plane, this is another no-brainer. Think how cool it would be to work out drawing paths on screen by just dragging your S2 model, then dumping that code to the Scribbler itself (or vice versa, reading the encoders and automatically transmitting data back to have all the brute-force mapping and landmark recognition down on the PC side).

I could go on and on -- the ideas are endless -- but I don't think that having a bunch of user libs and code that are fragmented, perhaps poorly documented and not rigorously tested is as effective as Parallax supporting this.

Lastly, it would seem that Processing and Wiring would make a nice IDE for dumping code -- and would be cross platform.

Zoot

e.g. http://letsmakerobots.com/node/18908

Invent-O-Doc

This is easy to do if you do it as a "whatever language" to SPIN translator that is built into the IDE. Having processor and Arduino compatible header protoboards (like some individuals on the forums sell) is a great idea.

Parallax seems to already have considered this with Parallax micro C (which appears to be on the back burner???)

The advantage of this "whatever" to SPIN translator is that you get that wonderful huge obex library.