Hi all... here is my sob story (you may skip this by going to the below)
i am trying to get into an engineering school via a bursary. the problem i have is that i am not very skilled at programming, and only know the very basics. i am also very preoccupied with work over the festive season, so i have very limited time in which i can learn... on the plus side, i have just found out that one of my friends has a contact who just happens to be leaving for vacation on the 15th December, and he said if i can impress him and show that i have some talent in any form of engineering, he will get me the bursary... my plan is this: an earth rover, which uses a cheap laptop/notebook running windows xp (it's all i have lying around, and i can't afford a newer one), and remote desktop into it inorder to control it and view the webcam feeds.
so thus, my request is: i need a program that has a full screen webcam interface, with button listeners which i can set up, and send predetermined values assigned to each set button to be listened for to a selected com port (arduino). the buttons to be listened for must contain: a-z, space, d-pad up down left and right, mouse buttons 1 2 and 3, and mouse movements x and y.
is there any current such software? or is there any kind soul who would create such software as a christmas present?
this might also be highly appreciated by the rest of the arduino community who like to use serial communication aswell.
if i can impress him and show that i have some talent in any form of engineering
with this:
is there any kind soul who would create such software
simple:
this is the most impressive plan i can muster up with the current resources i have available to me at the moment. i wouldn't be asking this if i didn't have a backup plan, or if i had the time to learn to create a windows application as the one described. also, this request is for a medium, not for the full project on it's own.
it's not like i'm asking because i need some recreational tool that i'm too lazy to make myself. this is a career that i'm pursuing. and i will of course say the software interface wasn't created by me. if i had the time, i would do it myself. but 6 days to learn to create a fully functional user interface with hardly any time after 14 hour shifts daily until festive is over, is far beyond my capabilities.
so thus, my request is: i need a program that has a full screen webcam interface, with button listeners which i can set up, and send predetermined values assigned to each set button to be listened for to a selected com port (arduino). the buttons to be listened for must contain: a-z, space, d-pad up down left and right, mouse buttons 1 2 and 3, and mouse movements x and y.
I don't even understand those requirements...
Does the hardware exist? The only way I can imagine that being done in a couple of weeks is if the hardware is built and the programmer is already fully-familiar with the hardware. The programmer would also need hands-on access to the hardware for testing & debugging.
so thus, my request is: i need a program that has a full screen webcam interface, with button listeners which i can set up, and send predetermined values assigned to each set button to be listened for to a selected com port (arduino). the buttons to be listened for must contain: a-z, space, d-pad up down left and right, mouse buttons 1 2 and 3, and mouse movements x and y.
I don't even understand those requirements...
Does the hardware exist? The only way I can imagine that being done in a couple of weeks is if the hardware is built and the programmer is already fully-familiar with the hardware. The programmer would also need hands-on access to the hardware for testing & debugging.
well, effectively what i mean is:
if i press w on my keyboard while the program is running for example, it should send the value assigned to w (assigned in the settings menu) to the com port that the arduino is on (of course, this would require the com port to be selected). similar to the values sent by the console window of the arduino software.
i suppose it will take considerably long for such software to be created... oh well, suppose i could still use the arduino software's serial communication to control the thing while a webcam screen is open
OK, is the arduino robot connected to the laptop via serial port? I can help with the serial software:
This free software has a couple rows of buttons on the bottom that you may customize. If you want a button to read "LEFT" and send "L" to arduino, you can. You can tell the person that the software is to control the robot and monitor robot debug info so not just buttons floating over video, but buttons and a screen to display info from arduino. Then you rescale a video screen to occupy the rest of your screen. Not perfect but totally existing and free. There are other terminal programs that have customizable buttons FYI. I use these buttons to test my phi-panels. If you want an integrated solution, you will have to go with Processing and coding in Java-like style and find a good video library. Last time I did it I was stuck with only one library that only worked with PS3 eye cams. That was before Processing 1.0
What you need is to demonstrate your own capability, determination and commitment. It's apparent from your post that instead you're trying to do is persuade somebody to do it for you so you can pass it off as your own work.
Which parts of your proposed project are you actually capable of implementing? It's not impossible to get something like that working within a few days and I'm sure there will be people here willing to give you advice to work through any problems you hit in implementing it yourself, but it needs to be your work at the end of the day.
Not if the OP acknowledges help received here clearly when presenting the project. The OP needs to do the robot control part IMHO to make some impression. Still if a student can do this, even with some help, he/she deserves to be considered for some chance of admission or financial support.
my plan is this: an earth rover, which uses a cheap laptop/notebook running windows xp (it's all i have lying around, and i can't afford a newer one), and remote desktop into it in order to control it and view the webcam feeds.
You probably put together a bot if you have some type of mobile platform. The person you are going to impress will probably ask you probing questions about your bot to verify it is mostly your work and you understand its workings. You can make the xp laptop the bot control center. You can put the apache web server on the laptop to be the control interface application. Apache can execute batch files which send GET request data to the laptop serial port. For vision you can attach a usb web cam and capture/send the video via the webcam200 program below. The below web cam setup is now out of service, but you can look at the page source to see how the streaming video and servo control commands are incorporated in the web page.
it's not like i'm asking because i need some recreational tool that i'm too lazy to make myself. this is a career that i'm pursuing. and i will of course say the software interface wasn't created by me. if i had the time, i would do it myself. but 6 days to learn to create a fully functional user interface with hardly any time after 14 hour shifts daily until festive is over, is far beyond my capabilities.
That's even worse than just asking someone to write some recreational bit of software for you. It's dishonest. I'm not convinced you will tell anyone it isn't your code. If I knew where you wanted to get into this school, I'd warn them about you.
Off topic, but:
"bursary", What's that? 'Ethics' misspelled, backwards, perhaps?
I googled it, but the wiki wasn't even close to the OP's request.
Perhaps the OP could 'impress' his potential benefactor by telling him that he (the OP) invented the Arduino, or even the Raspberry Pi, or BOTH? That would be impressive....
Rather than try to tackle a complex project in impossibly short timescales, or essentially lie by passing somebody else's work off as your own, it would be better to be honest about what you've done and what you want to do. Even if your project is only work in progress, to be able to explain what your end goal is, the problems you need to solve to achieve that and how you are going about solving those problems would IMO stand you in better stead than just putting a working solution on the desk and letting them admire it. You can safely assume that anybody competent to judge your capability as an engineer will know roughly what is involved in what you're proposing and not be unduly impressed by the fact you got it working. But being able to talk sensibly and enthusiastically about your past and current projects will tell them what they need to know about your interests and capabilities. Do be honest though and prepared to follow up your claims with detailed explanations - if you start bluffing, any competent engineer will see through you in seconds.
123Splat:
Off topic, but:
"bursary", What's that? 'Ethics' misspelled, backwards, perhaps?
I googled it, but the wiki wasn't even close to the OP's request.
Perhaps the OP could 'impress' his potential benefactor by telling him that he (the OP) invented the Arduino, or even the Raspberry Pi, or BOTH? That would be impressive....
A bursary is some money either cash or a waving of fees to allow study.