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[on:]

Hi,

Im pretty new to all this but i have been working on a video projection wich is triggered buy a pressure pad on a seat. The problem is that i have an old Director mx program that runs the various videos from a key press script using keys like "e" and "r". I thought it would be possible to activate this through an Arduino button press sketch. I have tried running AAC keys on my mac to convert it into a key stroke so while the director projector is running it will emulate the keyboard.

The serial.print works in the serial monitor but dosnt convert to an actual key press as i thought it might. one thing I noticed is that the Arduino uses the /dev/tty.usbmodemfd131 serial port and AAC keys is using the bluetooth-PDA_sync serial port could this be why!

Hope this makes sense and I hope u can help

cheers and thanks

P.

[Reply #1 on:]

Welcom on the forum,

Please post your arduino code so we can check if it does what it should do
(The MAC part I cannot help you with, is AAC keys a free program or part from Director?)

[Reply #2 on:]

Director needs to be looking at the same port as the arduino is on. Can you change what director is looking at?

[Reply #3 on:]

@robtillaart

This is the code I was trying to use:

const int buttonPin = 2; // the number of the pushbutton pin

int buttonState = 0; // variable for reading the pushbutton status

void setup() {

pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT);
Serial.begin(9600); // open the serial port at 9600 bps:
}

void loop(){

buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);

if (buttonState == HIGH) {
Serial.println("e");
}
else {
// nothing
}

}


AAC Keys is a free program I found here :

http://www.aacinstitute.org/Resources/ProductsandServices/AACKeys/AACKeys.html

[Reply #4 on:]

@Grumpy_Mike

O.k I will have a look and see if I can do that im not to sure!

Here is the Director script


-- Main Movie Script:

on startMovie
  initialiseGlobals()
end


global gTheKeys, gKeysTriggered
global gActivePads, gReEnter

on initialiseGlobals
  -- Reset everything:
  gTheKeys = ["e", "r", "p"]
  gKeysTriggered = [0, 0, 0]
 
  gActivePads = [0, 0, 0] -- [0,0,0]=NONE, [1,0,0]=LEFT, [0,1,0]=RIGHT, [1,1,1]=BOTH
  gReEnter = 0
end


on detectKeyInputs
  repeat with i = 1 to 3
    if keyPressed(gTheKeys.getAt(i)) then
      gKeysTriggered.setAt(i, 1)
    else
      gKeysTriggered.setAt(i, 0)
    end if
  end repeat
end

on resetMovie
  go to "initMovie"
end


-- Timer script, used to filter out unwanted keypresses, sorta like a threshold:
global gTrackLeft, gTrackRight
global gTimeInterval, gHistoryLength, gHistoryCounter

on initTimer
  gTimeInterval = .25 * 60
  gHistoryCounter = 1
  gHistoryLength = 10
  --init the list to store the keypresses
  gTrackLeft = []
  gTrackRight = []
  repeat with i = 1 to gHistoryLength
    gTrackLeft.append(0)
    gTrackRight.append(0)
  end repeat
 
  startTimer
end


on recordKeyHistory
  if the Timer > gTimeInterval then
   
    -- set list positions:
    gTrackLeft.setAt(gHistoryCounter, (gKeysTriggered.getAt(1))) -- update from left key
    gTrackRight.setAt(gHistoryCounter, (gKeysTriggered.getAt(2))) -- update from right key
   
    -- move to next position
    if gHistoryCounter >= gHistoryLength then
      gHistoryCounter = 1
    else
      gHistoryCounter = gHistoryCounter + 1
    end if
    --    put gHistoryLength
    --    put gHistoryCounter
    --put gTrackLeft
    --    put gTrackRight
    startTimer
  end if
end

on getFilteredKeyInput
  valL = 0
  valR = 0
  repeat with i = 1 to gHistoryLength -- count number of 1's (ON) in the list.
    if gTrackLeft.getAt(i) = 1 then -- LEFT key
      valL = valL + 1
    end if
    if gTrackRight.getAt(i) = 1 then -- RIGHT key
      valR = valR + 1
    end if
  end repeat
 
  if valL > (gHistoryLength/2) then -- is more than half the list = 1 / ON?
    gActivePads.setAt(1, 1) -- yep it is
  else
    gActivePads.setAt(1, 0) -- nope it aint
  end if
 
  if valR > (gHistoryLength/2) then -- ditto for the RIGHT key
    gActivePads.setAt(2, 1)
  else
    gActivePads.setAt(2, 0)
  end if
 
  -- If both LEFT and RIGHT active then light up position 3 in the list!
  if gActivePads.getAt(1) = 1 and gActivePads.getAt(2) = 1 then
    gActivePads.setAt(3, 1)
  else
    -- or not!
    gActivePads.setAt(3, 0)
  end if
end

on updateKeys
  getFilteredKeyInput()
end

[Reply #5 on:]

@Grumpy_Mike

Ive been looking at the arduino + director posts in the playground and tried following instructions for the serial extra but keep getting mixed up with things as its a bit above my head at the moment. do i need to implement something in the director script to point to the right serial port im not sure how to go about this.

[Reply #6 on:]

so basicly you want the arduino to act as a keyboard? a keyboard that sends the keystrokes 'e' and 'r' ? then i have the solution for you:

http://code.google.com/p/vusb-for-arduino/
http://www.practicalarduino.com/projects/virtual-usb-keyboard

(both the same project, but the last one with example setup)

Nick

[Reply #7 on:]

You need to do what it says here:-
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~infoarts/technical/arduino/wilson.arduinoresources.html

In particular you need to:-

Get a copy of Serial Xtra by Geoff Smith and place it in the Xtras folder located in your Director folder.

Get a copy of Steve Wilson's Template (Wilson.arduinotemp13.dir )  program  - it contains examples of the routines in Director that allow it to talk to the Arduino board - sending and receiving commands and information.

[Reply #8 on:]

@Grumpy_Mike

O.K sorry about that 

I have been looking at the links u sent and have tried following them copyed the Serial Xtra by Geoff Smith and placed it in the Xtras folder in my Director folder but not sure if i follow Steve Wilson's Template think i pointed to the right serial port but not sure what to do after!! do i just copy that on top of my main movie scrippt and export the progector again.

Thankyou for ur help.

[Reply #9 on:]

@Steen

yes Nick thats basically what i need do i just upload that code and connect the mats for it to work? was trying some of the ps2 keyboard codes and was getting a few errors not enough experience to figure it out 

[Reply #10 on:]

do i just copy that on top of my main movie scrippt and export the progector again.

I am not sure, it must be 20 years since I looked at director and a lot has probably changed since then. It is worth a try.

[Reply #11 on:]

@ Grumpy_Mike
Yes it was a while ago I done this code and cant remember much of it thanku again for your help.