Attn: Johnny Mac
w4fej
Posts: 264
I have read many of your articles in Nuts & Volts and love your writing style. I have just become interested in touch screen digitizers and was wondering if you are up for a short "how to" article on how the talk to a touch panel with a Prop. How to define the touch area (ie: a on screen button). How to interface to the Prop and anything else a dummy like me would need to make use of a touch panel.
I just picked up a 5" panel on Ebay for $16.00 as a replacement for a broken panel on my automotive GPS unit and got to thinking I might like to add a 7" touch panel to my LCD monitor for my R/C sub project.
What say Johnny Mac??
Mike B.
I just picked up a 5" panel on Ebay for $16.00 as a replacement for a broken panel on my automotive GPS unit and got to thinking I might like to add a 7" touch panel to my LCD monitor for my R/C sub project.
What say Johnny Mac??
Mike B.
Comments
I choose my own topics, thank you -- that way, I never have to wonder if a suggestion for a "great article" is that, or just a means of getting me to write code for free (and trust me, what magazines pay is writers laughable compared to the time spent to create the content so I'm not going to write about something that I don't care about).
Now, Mihke (there's no "h" in my name, either
You might want to follow this thread. Ray has done a lot of work with his touch screen and has code on his website.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?118685-3.5-quot-LCD-touchscreens-Now-Available-for-10-each.
Sorry Mike. Maybe you thought Jon worked for Parallax.
http://twitter.com/ParallaxInc/statuses/43727805401403392
I don't recall asking you to write anything for me. I was looking for "how a touch screen works and in general how to use it with the Prop"..
Sorry to bother you..
Mike B.
Did I miss something? Your first posts asks if I'm up for a "how-to article" (since you brought up N&V I had to assume that was code for suggesting a column). You'll have to forgive my cynicism, but I've actually had people say to me, "I'm hoping you'll write an article on [Topic X] because I need code for a product I'm trying to develop."
No bother, just not a topic that interests me -- without being paid to be interested, that is!
And it looks like Ray may have already done the groundwork for you.
were an actor as well as a technical guy...how cool!
I googled your name and came up with a link to a resume and see that you played
JFK in a show for the Discovery Channel. I'd love to see that :-) I see also that you
have an interest in videography. I have always thought it would be fun to be able to
make short videos with a polished look and have been shopping around lately for
a digital slr that can shoot 1080p video at 24fps so I can try it.
BTW I saw a very strange live amateur video a few hours ago on Ustream. It was
Charlie Sheen broadcasting from his home in Sherman Oaks...it was painful to watch lol.
If he were to get some professional help he could have a real bonanza on his hands...and
he really needed a sidekick that could help keep him focused on what he is doing in front
of the camera, it was chaotic.
He had over 100,000 live viewers and I was amazed that the site was able to handle
such a large load without crashing.
http://www.ustream.tv/charliesheen
I posted some code a long time ago for that controller board.
For smaller screens, I use the TSC2003 or TSC2007 controller chips. You can check my website for code...
It's also possible to use a few Prop pins to read a resistive touchscreen directly. There's a thread somewhere in the forum covering that...
I've just switched from tape to DSLR. I recently designed a Propeller-based product for a friend in exchange for a Canon EOS 60D and some goodies. It's got a lot more control than my 24P video camera (Panasonic DVX100) so I'm going slowly with it, but it's great to be able to pull an SD card from the camera, pop it into the computer, and start editing (I use Sony Vegas).
One of the projects that I'm working on is a book called "JonnyMac's Propeller Attack" and I have this idea to do a web series that matches it. In the meantime I'm working on some narrative stuff (my "Hollywood" side), and will be doing some demo videos for EFX-TEK products (starting with the AP-16+ all of our major products are Propeller powered).
I'm also working on a new Propeller-based intervalometer for creating time lapse videos. The great thing about digital cameras is that they save images in numbered sequence and any video editor can turn these files into video. I'd previously done this with the SX; the Propeller version will have more features and the ability to control a light and stepper motors along with the camera shutter.
Hollywood -- especially when chemicals get involved -- can be difficult on human beings. Charlie Sheen, a man who has had a wonderful career and seemingly everything going for him, is a good example. One of my more famous friends, who does nothing but acting, has said to me that I'm lucky to have a second life outside the business. He's right in that it keeps me from getting too panicky between acting jobs (all actors are temps!) and my other life does intersect with "the business" from time-to-time. I've had a lot of fun building electronics and writing firmware for friends in the film and television business. The project that put the 60D in my hands is a pan/tilt controller for movie and video cameras.
Yes, and 95% of us work one day at a time. Those that are regulars on a network TV series will work about 22 weeks on it. Granted, a series regular gets paid pretty well, but there's never a guarantee the show will come back after hiatus. It looks like "2 1/2 Men" (shot about 2 miles from me on the Warner lot) is done, despite being a highly-rated show. Show business is a wacky business.
I remain permanently connected to electronics, no matter what happens with acting. Way back when I first started I was on the set of a movie, sitting in the green room, editing StampWorks while the other actors were playing cards.
I made a simple intervalometer using a tiny85 and used it to snap still frames with
a cheap keychain camera. The cam and the tiny85 both operated from a 3.7v lion batt
and even though the stills were only 640x480 the results were good. I hid it at a public
location and let it take stills every few minutes and then collected the camera the next day.
The stills were stored on an 8gb micro sd card.
The Canon EOS Rebel is one of the ones I am considering. It can shoot at 23.976fps to
give you that nice cinematic motion blur look :-)
I read through the pdf version of American Cinematographer every month and I always
notice all the cool gadgets like LED lighting panels and camera add-ons and think to
myself that it would be fun to use a uc to create some of those gadgets.