Fab Academy 2013

#1 Project proposal.

#2 Computer Aided Design

#3 Computer-Controlled Cutting

#4 Electronics Production

#5 3D Scanning and Printing

#6 Electronics Design

#7 Molding and Casting

#8 Embedded Programming

#9 Computer-Controlled Machining

#10 Input Devices

#11 Composites

#12 Interface and Application programming

#13 Output devices

#14 Networking and Communications

#15 Mechanical Design, Machine Design

#16 Applications and Implications

#17 Invention, Intellectual Property, and Income

#18 Project Development

#19 Final Project

Assignment Files

 

Network and Communications.

This week we're looking at producing a few boards, and then networking these together. After that, the boards will be programmed so that they can be addressed from a computer through the main Bus board.

To achieve this, I've chosen to make Neil's hello.bus.45 code and board design, which can be found at the top of this page.

I started out by loading up the traces into the Fab Modules and send them off to the Modela. After the board was milled, I soldered the parts onto it.

Having produced the boards (and having numbered the nodes 1 and 2 with some tape), it was time to program them. I connected each board to a computer through the FabISP, and loaded the provided code onto them.
Having loaded the code onto the boards, I ran the python program term.py (found in Input Devices) and started plugging in the node numbers. If it worked correctly, the LED on the bus bridge would blink twice when you press 0, the first node when you press 1 and the second node when you pressed 2. Unfortunately, they all blinked twice when I pressed 0, and once when I pressed any other key.

Going back to the code, there was one easy bit to change. 

#define node_id '0
All the nodes were defined as 0. I changed the code for each of the nodes, and loaded them onto the boards. At this point, they all reacted as they should, except Node 1 was blinking when I pressed 2 and Node 2 was blinking when I pressed 1. There was an easy analog fix for this though (I switched the stickers that said 1 and 2 on the back of the boards).