Count me in the Atari camp too. My first real computer was an Atari 800 XL. I had installed a kit to double the memory, it required soldering on the motherboard, but it worked flawlessly, you couldn't do something like that today!
I started with a tape drive, you could save programs on regular cassette tape (hey, could you do that with a Propeller???) and a 300 baud modem that plugged into the joystick port if I remember right.
But the way this thread has turned is interesting. The comparison between this and vintage home computers, and the excitement levels of their respective enthusiasts.
Egads! I'm surrounded by Atari guys! The possible emulation of a Commodore 64 on a Propeller is what brought me this direction. [noparse]:)[/noparse] I guess owning petscii.com would label me a die hard Commodore user. Here's a picture of one wall of my shop (when it wasn't as messy as it is now with work stuff.)
BTW: Brian, I've got several of those C64 Datacassette units if you want to try that idea out. <GRIN>
I think one of the reasons this thread has turned "retro", is because many of the people here·were searching for the intellectual challenges that they remember and enjoyed "back in the day" when personal computing was new.
I, for one, am glad that there still exists a platform for that kind of fun. Imagine the newbies of today talking about this time in say 2040: "I remember back in·'07 when those old guys actually used breadboards and soldering irons to hook stuff up. hahaha"
The trick is, and always has been, to make sure that there's a path to higher skill levels and greater understanding and that there's·a resource available·to get them (and us) over the early speedbumps and the occasional sparks, smoke and fried chips (of the silicone variety). What a shame it would be if a curious mind became so frustrated and lost trying to understand what we study here, that they would turn to flower arranging in their search for a stimulating hobby.
It's a very high-tech "virtual tree", thank you very much.·I said nothing about a real, live tree in my original description!
I knew it was a mistake to put that video up. I could have just lied and said I couldn't find it!
Not exactly my proudest robotic moment, but hey, $50 is $50 and I had the satisfaction of going from idea, to concept, to a finished (and mostly working) project on a platform that I'd had no experience·with just three weeks earlier.
The simplicity of the platform and the plentiful resources, here on the forums and from other Parallax resources, gave me the confidence to try this and to go on to more complex challenges (with much·the same mixed success).
I hope you enjoy the video at my expense (while it's available).
>>> I think one of the reasons this thread has turned "retro", is because many of the people here were searching for the intellectual challenges that they remember and enjoyed "back in the day" when personal computing was new. <<<
I think this has a lot to do with the way technology in general changes. The more advanced technology becomes, the more removed it becomes from the user.
Duffer said...
I knew it was a mistake to put that video up. I could have just lied and said I couldn't find it!
Not exactly my proudest robotic moment, but hey, $50 is $50 and I had the satisfaction of going from idea, to concept, to a finished (and mostly working) project on a platform that I'd had no experience with just three weeks earlier.
Even if no one else was impressed, I was. Okay it's a flaky video, but it still had a wow-ness to it, for me anyway. perhaps I'm easily pleased - Job well done.
Done for my old job (I'd been there about a week and a half) and managed to get it working within two weeks and that included quite a bit of learning pasm. One cog reads two encoders, uses cordic to work out the positional changes and then modifies hub variables with the new position on each and every encoder edge. I've also got a memsic accelerometer on board. The neatest part is the graphical display which took only a morning as it is just the graphics demo but modified really. I just wish more concentrated projects came up like this, I seem to do more reading about the prop than programming it.
My typical reply to the question mentioned in the first post is usually something like: "It's just some mental gymnastics to slow down the brain rot that comes with getting old. By the way, have you found your car keys yet?"
A few years ago my girlfriend saw the christmas ornaments that Hallmark was selling, the ones that light up and constantly change color, and asked me how they worked. The Prop wasn't around yet, but I took an Atmel 90S4433 and some leds and a bit of C code and showed her.
I have a LOT of assorted microcontrollers, I enjoy making them do my bidding, and as I said, it's mental exercise.
Duffer said...
I knew it was a mistake to put that video up. I could have just lied and said I couldn't find it!
Not exactly my proudest robotic moment, but hey, $50 is $50 and I had the satisfaction of going from idea, to concept, to a finished (and mostly working) project on a platform that I'd had no experience with just three weeks earlier.
I actually saved all the parts and pieces (PING))) santa hat, ziptie lift bail, flashing LED·Christmas tree, and the voice box (one of those solid-state voice recorders you can get from Build-a-Bear and record any 8 second message you want) that says: "Ho, Ho, Ho; That's right, I'm hung" at the end of the self-hanging sequence. I'll be putting it together each Christmas season at the request of my wife. She thinks it's the cutest bot I've built. HINT: Dress your bots for success and spousal acceptance. Cute goes a long way. "You'll put your eye out!" lasers and skull crushing claws have a negative effect.
Bottom line: Build at least one "cute" robot, keep the others in the closet.
Steve
P.S. It just (post edit) occured to me that "cute" might be a partial answer to your original question. For example, build a bot that drags a catnip mouse behind it for the·cat to chase (also might keep the cat from attacking the bot) or a bot that will launch, kick, etc. a ball to play "fetch" with the family dog. What could be more appealing than puppies and robots?
Since I mentioned the project I'm working on, here are pictures of it project thus far.· The robot chasis is nearly ready.· Notice the huge battery... this thing will be able to run all day on a single charge.·· The propeller is ready too.· The main board now has an IR reciever, the 4-line LCD and its own battery pack are all working.· All that's left now is the software and mounting the sensors and this is ready to start exploring.· This setup uses the IR as input via a sony remote.· From it I can enter numbers and select modes and the like.·
I can understand the nostalgia.· The amazing thing is that you can do so much with so little code.· I love not having to buy· licences for every piece of hardware I buy for a bunch of software I'll never use!· That's just crazy.· I see people buy machines everyday that have twenty or thirty services that they'll never even use or miss if it wasn't there.· Many times they are asking me to shut some of them off so their computer will run faster!·· We are talking about 2+GHz machines with >1/2GB of Ram.· The propeller never takes more than 2 seconds to boot!· How can you not like that?
The question of what to do to shocase your work comes up very often for me. I··work at the London Science Museum as an interactives technician... My main job is to do robustness testing and child proofing our interactive exhibits.
The best part of my job is the freedom to try out new techniques for improving exhibits- thats why I have started on the Prop.
Recently I built a robot to test out a simple sensor multiplexing program. I went out to the agriculture gallery with·our Asistant Curator of·IT (who·is a robot fanatic), we put the robot on the floor and let it roam free.
Visitors had a couple of reactions: the kids played with the robot- getting in its way so it would turn, dancing with the "I'm cornered" music and light show (a side behaviour), and best of all asking "how did you make that?"... the adults usually ask "What does it do?"
It is not enough to reply with a technical answer... "It's doing what it does" isn't a good answer either.
What we have decided is to turn it around on the visitor; by asking "What would you like it to do?" or broaden the subject to "Would you trust your children to a robotic nanny?" The uninitiated and non technical usually don't know what they want to hear, or how to ask a narrow- answerable- question.
Duffer,
I agree on cute. I have been thinking of repurposing stuffed dog toys as bot skin -- there are couple dinosaurs that are just pleading to walk around. Another of my ambitions is to build a bot that uses oLEDs as 'emoticons' that assert its state of mind. With imagery that suggests thinking, being sneaky, happy to see you and so on. It had not occurred to me to comment about hung. However, whistling at the wife might be fun. 'Hubba hubba'.
Comments
Count me in the Atari camp too. My first real computer was an Atari 800 XL. I had installed a kit to double the memory, it required soldering on the motherboard, but it worked flawlessly, you couldn't do something like that today!
I started with a tape drive, you could save programs on regular cassette tape (hey, could you do that with a Propeller???) and a 300 baud modem that plugged into the joystick port if I remember right.
But the way this thread has turned is interesting. The comparison between this and vintage home computers, and the excitement levels of their respective enthusiasts.
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Brian
uController.com - home of SpinStudio
BTW: Brian, I've got several of those C64 Datacassette units if you want to try that idea out. <GRIN>
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Cavin and Hobbes.
I, for one, am glad that there still exists a platform for that kind of fun. Imagine the newbies of today talking about this time in say 2040: "I remember back in·'07 when those old guys actually used breadboards and soldering irons to hook stuff up. hahaha"
The trick is, and always has been, to make sure that there's a path to higher skill levels and greater understanding and that there's·a resource available·to get them (and us) over the early speedbumps and the occasional sparks, smoke and fried chips (of the silicone variety). What a shame it would be if a curious mind became so frustrated and lost trying to understand what we study here, that they would turn to flower arranging in their search for a stimulating hobby.
Steve
Love the video! Is that Charlie Brown's christmas tree?
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The more I know, the more I know I don't know.· Is this what they call Wisdom?
I knew it was a mistake to put that video up.
Not exactly my proudest robotic moment, but hey, $50 is $50 and I had the satisfaction of going from idea, to concept, to a finished (and mostly working) project on a platform that I'd had no experience·with just three weeks earlier.
The simplicity of the platform and the plentiful resources, here on the forums and from other Parallax resources, gave me the confidence to try this and to go on to more complex challenges (with much·the same mixed success).
I hope you enjoy the video at my expense (while it's available).
Steve
I think this has a lot to do with the way technology in general changes. The more advanced technology becomes, the more removed it becomes from the user.
Even if no one else was impressed, I was. Okay it's a flaky video, but it still had a wow-ness to it, for me anyway. perhaps I'm easily pleased - Job well done.
This is the best thing I have done on the propeller:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhNhFyN0oHw
Done for my old job (I'd been there about a week and a half) and managed to get it working within two weeks and that included quite a bit of learning pasm. One cog reads two encoders, uses cordic to work out the positional changes and then modifies hub variables with the new position on each and every encoder edge. I've also got a memsic accelerometer on board. The neatest part is the graphical display which took only a morning as it is just the graphics demo but modified really. I just wish more concentrated projects came up like this, I seem to do more reading about the prop than programming it.
Cheers,
Graham
A few years ago my girlfriend saw the christmas ornaments that Hallmark was selling, the ones that light up and constantly change color, and asked me how they worked. The Prop wasn't around yet, but I took an Atmel 90S4433 and some leds and a bit of C code and showed her.
I have a LOT of assorted microcontrollers, I enjoy making them do my bidding, and as I said, it's mental exercise.
Meanwhile, I saved the youtube video as a flv file so your threats of ornament-bot denial are for nought.
(Likely truth: Duffer as a good environmentalist bicycles to work. And that's all the tree that could fit in his backpack.)
I actually saved all the parts and pieces (PING))) santa hat, ziptie lift bail, flashing LED·Christmas tree, and the voice box (one of those solid-state voice recorders you can get from Build-a-Bear and record any 8 second message you want) that says: "Ho, Ho, Ho; That's right, I'm hung" at the end of the self-hanging sequence. I'll be putting it together each Christmas season at the request of my wife. She thinks it's the cutest bot I've built. HINT: Dress your bots for success and spousal acceptance. Cute goes a long way.
Bottom line: Build at least one "cute" robot, keep the others in the closet.
Steve
P.S. It just (post edit) occured to me that "cute" might be a partial answer to your original question. For example, build a bot that drags a catnip mouse behind it for the·cat to chase (also might keep the cat from attacking the bot) or a bot that will launch, kick, etc. a ball to play "fetch" with the family dog. What could be more appealing than puppies and robots?
Post Edited (Duffer) : 9/13/2007 10:48:47 PM GMT
I can understand the nostalgia.· The amazing thing is that you can do so much with so little code.· I love not having to buy· licences for every piece of hardware I buy for a bunch of software I'll never use!· That's just crazy.· I see people buy machines everyday that have twenty or thirty services that they'll never even use or miss if it wasn't there.· Many times they are asking me to shut some of them off so their computer will run faster!·· We are talking about 2+GHz machines with >1/2GB of Ram.· The propeller never takes more than 2 seconds to boot!· How can you not like that?
The best part of my job is the freedom to try out new techniques for improving exhibits- thats why I have started on the Prop.
Recently I built a robot to test out a simple sensor multiplexing program. I went out to the agriculture gallery with·our Asistant Curator of·IT (who·is a robot fanatic), we put the robot on the floor and let it roam free.
Visitors had a couple of reactions: the kids played with the robot- getting in its way so it would turn, dancing with the "I'm cornered" music and light show (a side behaviour), and best of all asking "how did you make that?"... the adults usually ask "What does it do?"
It is not enough to reply with a technical answer... "It's doing what it does" isn't a good answer either.
What we have decided is to turn it around on the visitor; by asking "What would you like it to do?" or broaden the subject to "Would you trust your children to a robotic nanny?" The uninitiated and non technical usually don't know what they want to hear, or how to ask a narrow- answerable- question.
_my first post
-mumfy
I agree on cute. I have been thinking of repurposing stuffed dog toys as bot skin -- there are couple dinosaurs that are just pleading to walk around. Another of my ambitions is to build a bot that uses oLEDs as 'emoticons' that assert its state of mind. With imagery that suggests thinking, being sneaky, happy to see you and so on. It had not occurred to me to comment about hung. However, whistling at the wife might be fun. 'Hubba hubba'.
Fred
I think the Singing Monks Demo & "Seven" demo are pretty good to show off the Prop chip.