I made an LED blink!

[Nick]

This project is collecting too much dust. I think I should do something with it again. Any suggestions for small targets? Otherwise I will continue alone my (rather daunting) path to my goal of a semi-autonomous camera-carrying car. 

[zourtney]

How much memory and how much processing power do you have? A less-daunting task might be good, but I too am having trouble coming up with one. You don't have Bluetooth or a USB port onboard, do you?

[Nick]

Getting USB would take another board. And then it would be super slow. Serial is better. I can do serial out the wazoo. I think each chip has two or three serial ports (maybe four?.) Plus I have a WRT linksys router with 8mb flash and linux! It'll run any c++ program you throw at it (provided it will run in 16mb of memory) and it has duel serial ports to control the two chips I have.

There are tones of things you can do. Controlling flash cards over serial is relatively simple (or so I hear) People usually use that for storing route info or data logging. Video processing is kinda out of the question. Takes lots more CPU and ram then I have. And the boards to do the processing cost more. But getting a GPS chip could cost as little as about $30, or as much as several hundred. Those can be got in a serial variety so the chips can have access to the location information. If we need more memory, there are other chips that could provide a couple of megs (running at fast serial speeds, but memory all the same.)  But it would be better to get faster, bigger chips then to do all that complicated work. ATmega makes some that look pretty cool. They have a rather big chip (cost the outrageous price of $7!) that will do everything one could want. And MicroChip has some 32bit chips with built in USB host controllers. Oh the possibilities. Currently I only have a programmer for a range of MicroChip chips.

I also have everything thing I need to make a pair of motor controllers. And some motors. And a WIFI linux router box. And a strange obsession with putting cameras on things. And an age old desire to make a mars rover-type thing.

I have been thinking about starting up the soldering iron and stripping some wire again with my free afternoons. I will post something if I don anything noteworthy. Or maybe just post if I do anything at all.

[zourtney]

I keep thinking it'd be cool to do something with the (Bluetooth) Wiimote. But it sounds like you're ill-equipped for such an adventure. I also keep thinking of making light control systems...hmm, projects, projects.

[Nick]

A light control system would be fairly simple. And there are dozens of tutorials out there for it.

[zourtney]

I've kind of taken a liking to those LED lighting systems I've seen behind TVs and under cabinets. That by itself, of course, has no need for a fancy logic board. Hmmm...(I guess I'm not helping)

[Nick]

But you could hook it up to a light sensor and have it change colors and intensity to match the rooms lighting! Just think of something useless and your on the right track@!

[zourtney]

Or signal processing on my audio channels! That could look so loud, yo.

[Nick]

Now your thinking! The lights can flash with the base! Another color for the mids and treble!

[zourtney]

Do you know how cool* it would be to put little lighting modules on each channel of a 7.1 surround sound system? Each speaker with its own little piece of illuminative mastery. Just think of the light show that would occur! A car wizzing by would be like a flashbang!

Which makes me think that "Flashbang Theater" would be a pretty cool band name.

* not very

[Nick]

Yes it would. Or a production company. Did you just think up a name to go with all the videos you make?

But yeah, each channel?

[zourtney]

Wait, what? I'm confused. And surely not really helping you figure out what to make!

[Nick]

Flashbang Theater

[zourtney]

I guess that would explain the confusion. On the bright side, my eyesight seems to be coming back.

[Nick]

Thats puntastic.