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Ybox at the Maker Faire — Parallax Forums

Ybox at the Maker Faire

tarikhtarikh Posts: 10
edited 2011-09-26 15:25 in Propeller 1
Hi folks, we have a little announcement to make for interested parties in the Bay Area. We're going to be teaching a series of workshops at the Maker Faire: http://www.makerfaire.com and giving away kits for the YBox, a fun project that utilizes the propeller. You can see more about it here: http://www.ybox.tv/


board.jpg


If you're planning on attending, we'll see you there! And if not, we'll be posting full source code and hardware specs to our site in the next few days.

Thanks and happy Propping!

Josh and Tarikh
Uncommon Projects
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Comments

  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-05-16 17:15
    Tarikh,

    I will be meeting you guys there. Looking forward to seeing your project and attending one of the workshops. Take care.

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
  • Graham StablerGraham Stabler Posts: 2,510
    edited 2007-05-16 18:13
    Cool, the xport unit used looks very nifty too, shame its a bit far for me to swim.

    Graham
  • Max WoodenMax Wooden Posts: 112
    edited 2007-05-16 18:24
    I will definitely be there. This looks really awesome!

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    Max Wooden
  • M. K. BorriM. K. Borri Posts: 279
    edited 2007-05-16 20:27
    Cool, I had no idea the ybox used a Prop! Looks like the Prop is this decade's Video Toaster. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

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    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=650217

    meow, i have my own topic now? (sorta)
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-05-16 22:26
    M.K. now you're getting old-school...Newtek's Video Toaster was the most sought after add-on for the Amiga computer. I never got one but had a friend with a A/V Studio who did. Very impressive stuff. Take care.

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
  • M. K. BorriM. K. Borri Posts: 279
    edited 2007-05-17 00:39
    I'm 26, but worked in an Amiga repair shop after school until it closed in 1999. Good times.

    And you can take my A1200 from my cold dead hands. [noparse]:)[/noparse]


    What would rock absolutely would be to genlock the Propeller... I may work on that, wonder if I'm good enough to get anywhere [noparse]:)[/noparse]

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    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=650217

    meow, i have my own topic now? (sorta)
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2007-05-17 00:52
    The website is a little vague about what the ybox does...

    A networked TV gismo?

    Oldbitcollector

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    The comments and code above are proof that a million monkeys with a million propeller chips *could* write Shakespeare!
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-05-17 01:41
    Did you see both links? Between the two a lot of information is available. Take care.

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
  • Dennis FerronDennis Ferron Posts: 480
    edited 2007-05-17 03:15
    That's very cool! Will there be any way to get ahold of one of those kits if we can't make it to California? (I.e., by mail order?)

    Glad to see I'm not the only person who thinks the Propeller would look good in an Altoids tin. Only my idea is to put one of those Sparkfun OLED displays in the inside of the lid, and make it open up like a clamshell, like a Gameboy Advance.
  • Graham StablerGraham Stabler Posts: 2,510
    edited 2007-05-17 08:36
    Nice idea Dennis

    it would be great if Parallax would do some hunting for displays and micro keyboard technologies, the potential for portable propeller powered devices is huge.

    We don't have altoids here, I wonder what the equivalent is [noparse];)[/noparse]

    Graham
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2007-05-17 15:10
    Graham,

    Do you mean smaller than these?

    http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=32351

    http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=603-32000

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
  • Graham StablerGraham Stabler Posts: 2,510
    edited 2007-05-17 19:58
    Chris, yes.

    The LCD is bulky and needs 12v or surgery and the keyboard though smaller than a typical PC keyboard is hardly a pocket sized interface.

    You could pretty much get the smt props in a watch there just aren't many ways to do the human user interface, I'd wondered about making keyboards by taking the membrane from a spellchecker and the driver from an old keyboard but its a shame there are not more easier ways.

    I looked into tiny NTSC displays (they are available) and small PS2 keyboards (they seem not available) but I don't have the skills and contacts the parallax team has.

    Graham
  • tarikhtarikh Posts: 10
    edited 2007-05-17 21:24
    Hey folks, I'll try to answer a couple threads here. If there's interest, we'd like to create some kits for sale for people--we'll keep you posted on that. But don't forget, we're also posting, or soon will have posted, everything you need--schematic, parts, pcb layout files--to make/augment/pirate your own.

    What is this thing? Yep, a "networked TV gizmo platform thingy". I'd love to give you a detailed, utilitarian description, but it's a proof of concept more than anything else--proving the idea that you can do ntsc and networking on a microcontroller and seal it all together with some web code. You could think of it as a platform for tv widgets--sort of like konfabulator or dashboard. Or you could take it in a new direction--for instance networked pong. Hey, we're as confused about this thing as you are--we just wanted to see if we could stick all that stuff in an altoids tin. Turns out we could, we're still trying to figure out what to do with it [noparse];)[/noparse]

    Tarikh
  • Dennis FerronDennis Ferron Posts: 480
    edited 2007-05-18 01:47
    Well how about a networked cluster of 100 Yboxes? Like a Beowulf cluster, but with Propellers instead of Linux computers. Cluster computer in a suitcase.

    At the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Andrew Fagg, one of the professors I work for in my research program, has this project called "Bions": it's an interactive art display which uses thousands of Atmel micros together with sound and lights; they interact with each other and react to people walking near them. (It tracks people in a fashion similar to a distributed sensor array.)

    Link: http://www.isisconceptuallaboratory.com/bion.html

    YBoxes with some sounds and lights could be much like Bions.

    Graham: where do you live? No altoids? Gasp. If you can't get altoids tins, hershey is now selling "truffles" in a similar tin. And I've noticed that some "SwissTech" tools come in a tin the same size as altoids.

    Chris, Graham: If we did have a qwerty keyboard that fit into an altoids tin, I'm not sure it would be large enough to use! But a keyboard that is the size of a small paperback novel might be more reasonable. I don't think an altoids sized Propeller computer could be practical for typing; either it could be a game machine with just a few buttons, or connect to a TV like the YBox, or perhaps have a VGA port and PS/2 or USB and use a full size keyboard and monitor, so that it would be like a "mac mini" only even smaller. I *do* however, think that a Propeller computer the size of a small book could be practical. It could be useful for taking notes on in college class, and also for reading e-books if the display is big enough.
  • SSteveSSteve Posts: 808
    edited 2007-05-18 02:01
    Dennis Ferron said...
    If we did have a qwerty keyboard that fit into an altoids tin, I'm not sure it would be large enough to use!
    The Treo has a keyboard that would fit in an Altoids tin. Granted it's not large enough for touch typing, but plenty for limited text entry (e.g. text messaging).

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    OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows

    links:
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  • mynet43mynet43 Posts: 644
    edited 2007-05-18 02:27
    How about this for a small keyboard...
    FlexisFX100-1.jpg
    1983 x 865 - 75K
    FlexixFX100-2.jpg
    1087 x 2430 - 153K
  • DroneDrone Posts: 433
    edited 2007-05-18 05:45
    Hi Tarikh,

    Is there a reason why Ybox uses the Lantraonix XPort instead of the seemingly newer, more capable, and less expensive ($49 vs. $35 USD) XPort Direct module? I'm still coming to grips with XPort specifications - perhaps you can shed some light on this.
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2007-05-18 07:45
    The best 'mini' keyboard I've come across is the one used on the Psion S5

    It probably won't fit in an Altoids tin, but then again, I've used laptops with poorer keyboards...
    (The one on the Psion netBook is even better, but also a much more expensive model)
    It may be possible to buy these keyboards from either POS Ltd(in England) or Pulster(Germany)

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  • Dennis FerronDennis Ferron Posts: 480
    edited 2007-05-18 08:40
    Thank you Gadget man. Something like the Psion S5 which you linked to is exactly what I have in mind.
  • PaulPaul Posts: 263
    edited 2007-05-18 12:54
    How about something that uses Motorola's iTap, like a cell phone? Would definately fit. Qwerty is just so 'old school'. tongue.gif
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2007-05-18 13:22
    If QWERTY is so 'old school', why not use an Microwriter keyboard?

    It's just 5 keys and should fit comfortably on an Altoids tin...
    (Of course, being from the 80's, the Microwriter is probably also very, very old-school)

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  • Graham StablerGraham Stabler Posts: 2,510
    edited 2007-05-18 13:27
    the point is not to find something with a small keyboard but finding something that is easily interfaced to.

    Graham

    Post Edited (Graham Stabler) : 5/18/2007 1:45:07 PM GMT
  • M. K. BorriM. K. Borri Posts: 279
    edited 2007-05-18 13:27
    yum, chord keyboard!

    http://www.handykey.com/

    I tried one for a while, but couldn't get used to it... building one could make for a nice project (although using a Prop for it is probably overkill)


    I've been using a TRS-80 Model 100 as a serial terminal for the Prop -- very happy with it.

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    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=650217

    meow, i have my own topic now? (sorta)
  • Graham StablerGraham Stabler Posts: 2,510
    edited 2007-05-18 14:55
    A serial 9 digit keypad could make a mobile phone style keyboard I guess with three letters on each key, just needs some front end code.

    Graham
  • Paul BakerPaul Baker Posts: 6,351
    edited 2007-05-18 16:25
    Umm, how did an announcement about the Ybox turn into a discussion about keyboards? Let's start a new topic discussing small keyboards instead of keeping this thread off-topic.

    Thanks-

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    Paul Baker
    Propeller Applications Engineer

    Parallax, Inc.
  • sparkssparks Posts: 11
    edited 2007-05-18 21:20
    So which event/workshop title is this in the makerfaire schedule, I have NOT been able to identify where to go for i and my friend to take this propellerhead class


    very interested parties want to know
    sparks freaked.gif
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2007-05-25 23:34
    I got my Xport this afternoon, and in sitting down with the online materials, it looks like I've
    either found an error in Lantronix documentation, (doubtful) found an error in the Xport schematic, (maybe)
    or have my eyes going cross-eyed. (probable) Anyway would someone here (EE) mind being a second set of eyes
    before I free the magic smoke from my Xport?

    Here's what I'm looking at...
    According to www.lantronix.com/pdf/XPort_DS.pdf (page 2)
    Ground is pin 1, Vcc (3.3v) is pin 2

    According to www.ybox.tv/images/ybox1.1b-schematic.gif
    Ground is pin 8, Vcc (3.3v) is pin 7

    Second set of eyes??

    Thanks!
    Oldbitcollector

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    The comments and code above are proof that a million monkeys with a million propeller chips *could* write Shakespeare!
  • Robert KubichekRobert Kubichek Posts: 343
    edited 2007-05-25 23:44
    The gif is wrong. Use the documentation from the manufacturer..
  • tarikhtarikh Posts: 10
    edited 2007-05-27 05:28
    Hi folks, thanks for the comments. I've updated the schematic to reflect the correct pin order.

    www.ybox.tv/images/ybox-v1.1c-schematic.GIF
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2007-07-24 04:27
    ..BUMP..

    I haven't seen it announced...

    The YBox project has been updated to include a copy of their software. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks
    like a very need application of web/propeller gizmos. (Including something that displays images from Flicker.)

    Looks like my Xport is finally going to get some real use.. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

    www.ybox.tv/index.php?page=source

    Oldbit

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    The comments and code above are proof that a million monkeys with a million propeller chips *could* write Shakespeare!
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