*NEW* USB Input/Output Board -- Fusion Brain

[2k1Toaster]

Quote: Originally Posted by turbocad6

cool, thanks for the animated gif's,gonna play with this

I think a g-meter is going to be all you can use there gtr, an angle meter would have to compare to absolute level & not the road anyway, I wouldn't think what your talking about can be done...

Actually it can be done with EMF readers. Basically a 3d compass. As long as it is far enough away from metal, so put it in the cabin somewhere not hidden in the dash, it can sense direction in 3 axis's without the need for a reference because it measures the earth's magnetic field. They are pretty awesome, but that cool factor comes with a price. I am still looking though. The only downside is that in a few thousand years, it wont be accurate anymore, but I dont think your car, or even the USB standard for that matter will still be around then anyways!

Oh, and your welcome.

[2k1Toaster]

I am not sure if anybody but myself is interested in this, but I made a primitive Speech Recognition for the software.

It is also on the website's download center: http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/S...%20Install.zip

You will need multiple files for this, so that is why it is not just an exe update.

The Main FusionFormDynamic.skin has new areas:

Code:

#USESPEECHRECOGNITION#true|false
#USESPEECHFULLDICTATION#true|false

I reccommend these settings:
#USESPEECHRECOGNITION#true
#USESPEECHFULLDICTATION#false

#USESPEECHRECOGNITION# -- if true, then speech is enabled, else it is disabled
#USESPEECHFULLDICTATION# -- if this is set to true, then the entire dictation library is used, which can cause very frustrating results. If false, it will read and compile rules based off of the SpeechHierarchy.atom file.

SpeechHierarchy.atom file is the first steps at a rule set.

Code:

#SYSNAME#Computer;
#TURNON#turn on;activate;initialize
#TURNOFF#turn off;deactivate;stand down
#GENERALOUT#output;relay

#AQUERY#what is;what's
#GENERALIN#sensor

#CUSTOM##OUT##0##ON#roll down windows
#CUSTOM##OUT##1##OFF#roll up windows
#CUSTOM##IN##0#what is the temperature;what is the current temperature; what's the the temperature; what's the current temperature

SYSNAME is the name you address or commencing keywords. In this case I am testing so it is Star Trek like with "Computer" and also a blank is made by just adding a ";" with nothing after it. So If it was just "Computer" with no semicolon, then all the commands would be "Computer, blah blah blah". Just "blah blah blah" would do nothing.

TURNON and TURNOFF are the keywords for turning on and off the digital outputs respectively.

And GENERALOUT is what you call the outputs.

Then the default is the port number as assigned in the FusionFormDynamic.skin file.

So for example, to turn on Output 1, and then turn off Output 2, say the following:

"Computer, turn on output 0" and then "Computer, deactivate relay 1".

Of course "output" and "relay" can be interchanged as well as "turn on" and deactivate" can be switched to their other words such as:

"Computer, initialize relay 0" and then "Computer, stand down output 1".

Now, "#CUSTOM##OUT##1##OFF#roll up windows" will assign a custom command to the output at port # 1 to turn off when the phrase "roll up windows" is spoken. Pretty simple.

"#CUSTOM##IN##0#what is the temperature" is pretty much the same as above with a custom message for the input at port #0 to read its value when the phrase "what is the temperature" is spoken.

So go ahead and play with it. It is far from finished, but it works pretty well.

And of course the dll from that new download must be in the directory as well.

[turbocad6]

Quote: Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

Actually it can be done with EMF readers. Basically a 3d compass.

yeah, but wouldn't that have to be 100% relative to level0% incline? how can the road be 100% level? wouldn't any pitch in the road skew these resulting readings to be meaningless as far as performance predictions etc?...

I can see this being useful on an off road incline gauge, but wouldn't a g meter be better to predict & gauge performance related readings?

sorry, back to topic, friggin voice control too!?!?!? that's so cool... this hardware/software is all that's needed to build KIT/nightrider type interface

[Volsfan]

What about "Fire photon torpedoes" ? when the idiot pulls out in front of ya.

Yeah, that's the addition I was looking for. Something to rid the road of crazy drivers.

[2k1Toaster]

Quote: Originally Posted by Volsfan

What about "Fire photon torpedoes" ? when the idiot pulls out in front of ya.

Yeah, that's the addition I was looking for. Something to rid the road of crazy drivers.

The voice file is user changeable.

If you want all of them to respond to fire as turn on, then add it under the generalout, or if you just want it for 1 port, add it as a custom.

[2k1Toaster]

Well the voice activation has a weird false positive on my laptop with no microphone at all plugged in.

With nothing giving input to the mic channel, sometimes it recognizes "roll up windows" with supposedly great accuracy. Well, the good news is if I have a mic plugged in, it seems to work great.

So moral of the story, dont enable speech, unless you are going to have a mic plugged in because it will start turning your outputs on and off whenever it feels like it.

Anybody else get this?

[Ryann]

just letting evryone know, ive made leaps and bounds oin how to do my frontend.. and i can include many other things now i have the knowledge.. i hopefully can send and receive sms's straight from my software, using a specialised .dll. Zinc 2.5 is very very very powerful program to add to flash. i tell ya.

awaiting your .dll toast. is it coded in c#? anychance of C++? or do they act the same in most circumstances

[2k1Toaster]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ryann

just letting evryone know, ive made leaps and bounds oin how to do my frontend.. and i can include many other things now i have the knowledge.. i hopefully can send and receive sms's straight from my software, using a specialised .dll. Zinc 2.5 is very very very powerful program to add to flash. i tell ya.

awaiting your .dll toast. is it coded in c#? anychance of C++? or do they act the same in most circumstances

It will be coded in C# because C++ and Java are the bane of my existance. God damn pointers.

But anyways, some pretty crappy luck has happened which included but is in no way limited to: lightning, smoke detectors going off, alarms systems that were installed before we bought the house but never activated so we have no code to shut the damn thing that is wired into the mains off, computer being melted, and cable modem fusing itself to the internet cable.



So basically I have no internet, and I am forced to drive around lurking on unencrypted wifi networks at night time when everyone else is asleep.

I am still having problems with the dll, and of course, all the help files all are the internet! I even had to call the cable company to send out a repairman to fix the internet, and lo and behold, I get on my laptop and google doesnt work. Its a natural impulse now!

I am so glad we have satellite tv, or I think I would die from electronics deprevation.

So I hope to get the dll out soon, but truthfully I am having a lot of problems getting the shared memory setup. Maybe someone can shed some light on this, but until they do, I will muddle through it and try my best. Wish me luck!

[StealthRT]

I'll have a review soon. Been busy with my other 3 jobs so i havent even found the time to hook it up to the power (which i still need to buy a cable for...)

But i did, however, get the new update chip.

David

[2k1Toaster]

Quote: Originally Posted by StealthRT

I'll have a review soon. Been busy with my other 3 jobs so i havent even found the time to hook it up to the power (which i still need to buy a cable for...)

But i did, however, get the new update chip.

David

well keep us posted.

[2k1Toaster]

Me and this damned *.dll

[turbocad6]

looks painful...

[addissimo]

Are you still working on servo control?

[greenman100]

Quote: Originally Posted by addissimo

Are you still working on servo control?

Yes, it's planned, but expect it to be a month or two.

[greenman100]

I am posting this here to benefit everyone.

Quote: Originally Posted by An Interested Customer

I finally finished reading through all 42 pages of the forum thread on the Fusion Brain. I also went through your website, but I still have some questions, which I've listed below.

Here are my questions:

Hardware
• I have seen a lot of discussion on default states for the outputs, but what about using latching relays?
• Are the relays mechanical or solid-state?
• Are the inputs optoisolated?
• What is the maximum and recommended cable run between the FusionBrain and the relays?
• Can I run multiple FusionBrains on one computer? I know there were many postings on this subject in the forums, but I did not see what the final answer was.
• Can I run the FusionBrain through a USB hub? I know there were many postings on this subject in the forums, but I did not see what the final answer was.
• Someone mentioned a tilt sensor. I would also be interested in this.
• An ambient sound sensor would be cool, since my head unit does not adjust for this. I know I could probably figure out a way to get this info from my sound card, but a simple analog input would be a lot easier to work with.

Software
• Do you have an SDK available for the FusionBrain (as opposed to the SDK for PIC)?
• Where can I find the source code? Is it on SourceForge? I have seen a couple of individual C# files posted in the forums, but not a build-able solution.
• Is the configuration file in XML format?
• Have you run your code through FxCop?

Here are your answers:


Hardware:
• Latching relays can be used with the Fusion Brain, but we do not sell them. They must be operated by 12 volts and not draw more than 500mA.
• The supplied relays are mechanical, to save on cost.
• The maximum run is as long as you'd like. Theoretically, you could probably run about 100 feet, but I don't see why you would. It is certainly long enough for anywhere in a car.
• The inputs are not optoisolated, but the PIC (the processor and data acquisition module) is socketed and replaceable. We will sell these replacements at cost. They will be • about $12. We elected not to opto-isolate the inputs, to save on cost and board size. If one were to blow the opto-isolator, it would need replacement. since the PICs are relatively inexpensive, might as well just replace that, rather than an opto-isolator.
• Multiple Fusion Brains can be run on one computer. Be sure to specify different firmwares (1, 2, 3, or 4) when ordering. Then, in software you will tell it which firmware to talk to for a specific input, if that makes sense.
• Yes, you can run the Fusion Brain through a USB hub. As far as we can tell, the difficulties stemmed from a low-quality hub. We have had only had one report of issues, and they were remedied with a newer hub. The hub should be a USB 2.0 hub.
• A tilt sensor is in the works, should be shipping in early July.

None of these questions are stupid. We are working on writing up a FAQ.


Software:

• Source Code: The source code is only hosted on our server. Right now all the configuration screens are useless because we switched to a fully dynamically built solution. However all the calls to the files are still in there. I am currently working on either getting rid of them, or getting them to work with the dynamic files
• Configuration XML: No it is not. It is in plain text ASCII. The file extension is *.skin and will open right up in notepad. There are 5 sections to the files. Main, Digital Outs, Digital Ins, Analogue Ins, and Other. Only certain functions can go in certain places. In the test skin file all the possibilities are used in different places. If it is not in there, it is not yet fully supported. There will be a full writeup on how it works in the near future.
• FxCop: No I have not. I have never even heard of it. I am self taught to horrible university teacher taught. He believed in the "static methods are god's gift to the earth" approach which I personally disagree with fully. This led me to learn off example and in doing such I am sure I have developed some bad programming habits, or forms (such as I do not follow naming conventions such as lowerUpper), but my software works! I have programmed quite a few applications for clients as well and they work perfectly. If you see something in the code which is destructive, please let me know. Of course the entire software is open source, and you are free to completely re-write it if needed. As of now, it relies heavily on strign manipulations and parsing. I know this is extremely inefficient, but for a full run through of the code it takes 8mS on a slow computer. Our device can only update at 30mS intervals, so it doesn't seem like a problem. I am however aware that that is slow for a program of this limited complexity and am open to suggestions.



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