Pet projects
Posted on | August 10, 2010 | Comments Off
I have always 2-3 or even more pet projects going at any given time. My pet projects rarely gets to a 100% completed stage but I upload them to my SVN repository. I have figured out that I want to share some of my projects and their code.
The SVN repository are available at http://svn.myerart.net/. From here on now all my pet projects that have some meat on their bone. (Eg. some actually usable code.) First off are libSimpleNet and RoboSim.
libSimpleNet are a *NIX library for creating a simple network client and server. I have used variants of this library since 2006 and still use it in my projects today. I created libSimpleNet for personal use but if others can use it or get educated by reading the code then its usable. (Since I don’t have a good practice of commenting my code it might be hard to read and be educated from tho.)
RoboSim is a project I started not long ago, but far from finished. My goal is to create a simulated environment where I can test out intelligent agent architectures. This project will most grow a lot the next months and years. It used 2D rendering of the environment for spectating on the agent(s) being tested. More on this project later.
The Android OS and me
Posted on | June 4, 2010 | Comments Off
I recently bought myself a Android device. The HTC Desire to exact. I have a working iPhone 3G as well, but wanted to get my hands dirty with developing apps for the Android OS. I have moderate experience developing for the iPhone, but didn’t quite enjoy all the magic that happens behind the code. (When it comes to programming I am a control freak, i know :P) After coding the usual training stuff for the Android OS I can say that there are also is a lot happening behind the code that I cannot control. But not so much that I am feeling that I don’t have the control. The freedom of being able to code on Windows, linux and OSX operating systems counts for a lot as well. (I use all three operating systems daily.)
But enough about how I feel when I code apps for this new shiny device. On to the hardware. Here is where I feel the device really shines. Its 1Ghz Snapdragon processor makes the whole user experience a good one. Fast to switch orientation, fast application loading and fast overall snappy feeling with little waiting time for anything. But that is as much positive I have to say about the device as there are many downsides to the device.
When I first used it I realized that it had trouble to connect to 3G network when I left home and I had to reboot to make the device connect to the internet again.(I later figured out that switching on and of flight mode worked just as well.) After some search on the net I was told to install a update taht fixed this well known Android bug. This bug for me was a eye-opener on how “young” the operating system is. Really is it that hard to fix a bug that have been known since release, and only 2.2 Froyo have the fix as a part of the operating system?
I have wanted to get off the “Apple-wagon” for a time because of Apples strict control of what the user do with their devices and what applications are allowed to run on it. But I now know that there is a reason for this control. Quality! My first experience with the Android marked are a bad one. I found many good applications, but I had to make due with free and limited versions since the paid versions aren’t available in my region of the world. This was something I knew in advance, but thought it wouldn’t be that bad. Waiting for Google to open up the marked I am left with 2 choices: Root my HTC Desire or make due with limited applications. Since I didn’t jailbreak my iPhone out of laziness and some sort of “ideological meanings” I don’t want to root a so open system as Android. There really should not be any need for it. But then again, somewhere someone have made some bad decisions.
Another big annoyance with the Android marked that makes me longing back to the Apple App store are the big amount of junk and crap that clogs up the marked. My impression is that most applications submitted to the marked are apps that just contain wallpapers, (come on, is it that hard to download a picture self?) pictures of bikini models and countless apps that just contain pictures of Asian women. Android marked really do need some sort of approval process if this crap is going to disappear. It clutters the list of new submitted applications, list of any application category I have browsed in the marked. I actually have started to appreciate the censorship Apple applies to the App store. I understand now that this is a necessity for a fully functional app store.
Motor Control Unit functioning
Posted on | December 17, 2009 | Comments Off
A couple of days ago, my last needed components for getting a functional motor control unit for my robotics project arrived. The parts was 4x SN754410 Quad Half H-Bridge. Since my motor draws 800mA at 6V I needed to use one chip on each motor just top be safe. The MCU controlling the unit is a ATMega8. Using the FT232RL USB controller that are connected to the ATMega8 I can issue commands to the motor control unit using USB.
All in all this setup took me a couple of hours of setup, and a day or so of coding. Next step is to solder it on to a PCB, instead of using the breadboard i use now.
I have ordered a logic analyzer from SparkFun, and a bunch of sensors from Parallax, so after X-mas I will be making a USB enabled sensor board using proximity sensors, g-sensors etc. I might throw up a post when that part are completed as well.
Some photos of the beradboraded unit:
A step further into robotics
Posted on | October 6, 2009 | Comments Off
Since I have moved from Oslo to Stavanger I have chosen to make my thoughts of building a robot or two into reality. Last few days I have ordered NOK600 in parts, and are ready for some primitive motor control. When I get my motor control working, I will order a solar panel (100NOK), some more MCU’s (for controlling other stuff) and a lot more parts.
My first goal in this project is to have a robot that wanders ayround unknowingly of its surroundings, and when the power gets low it will return to a charge station (emitting some sort of signal so the robot can locate it) and charge. When this goal are complete, I might start implement some learning. I have also taught of using multiple sonars (NOK100 stk) and use that to create a in-memory map of its surroundings.
If I get some stuff working on this project, every so little, Ill post it on my blog :) I hope robotics can take me away from playing computer games, and become my main hobby instead. Hope to be finnished with my first schematics of the motor control soon. Ill be using Eagle editor as my main CAD tool.
The Windows 7 taskbar, and why I love it!
Posted on | January 15, 2009 | Comments Off
I have now had Windows 7 up and running for almost 5 days as a virtual machine on my work computer. I have used this Windows 7 install to have a open VPN connection to customers so I can do some quick SQL queries and browse their intranet without having to break my connection with the network on work.
The one thing I noticed made a difference for my productivity when I was using Windows 7 was the new taskbar. I have used Macs for a long time before I started this job as a Windows Mobile developer, so when I moved my systems to Windows I missed the dock in OSX and the way a program only had ONE icon there and the most used programs could be pinned there for easy access. Now Microsoft have copied this idea (nothing wrong with copying things that work..) and enhanced it with some neat functions that make it better than the OSX dock!
The enhancements are that a program running with more than 1 window open get a list of the open windows when you click it. This makes the user able to choose a particular window belonging to that application. In OSX you just get the top-most window of the application you click on.
Another enhancement is the menu you get when you right-click the icon on the taskbar. The applications can customize this menu themselves. (The program have to support and use the API methods supplied by Microsoft for Windows 7 tho, so I guess it will not be many customized menus right away, but it will be standard in programs created from the release date of Windows 7.) The standard list of files opened by that program is a nice function while we wait for programs to make use of this functionality.
Update: Gizmondo have an article about this, and it goes in more details. You can view the article here: giz-explains-why-the-windows-7-taskbar-beats-mac-os-xs-dock
Windows7, iPhone development
Posted on | January 14, 2009 | No Comments
Its been a while since I last posted an entry now. Last post was about me installing Vista on my home computer. Vista is still installed tho. And for those who know me that may be a big supprise. Speaking of operating systems, I got my hands on Windows 7 here this weekend. I am using it as a development test server on a virtual machine on my work-computer so that I dont have to bother with VPN connections on the main OS. Im also using it as the main OS on my new Thinkpad. After 3 days of testing I am very satisfied with it!
I also bought myself a iPhone this weekend. I bought it so that I can develop a game that I have thought about for some time now. All I can say about it is that its a sidescrolling platformgame in 2D (Think Commander Keen, Mario, etc..). There are several games lilke that for the iPhone allready, but what I have thought about is a way to handle input on the screen without the fingers beeing in the way of whats happening on the screen. I will not go in more detail about this until its realeased on AppStore (hopefully).
Trying out Vista
Posted on | October 26, 2008 | Comments Off
This weekend I wanted to reinstall and freshen up my iMac. So after installing OSX I set up Vista using the Bootcamp tool supplied by Apple. On saturday I had installed Vista succesfully, Visual Studio 2008 and all the Team Fundation software I needed to start working. And clever me wanted to update my system, so I started the windows update manager. Thinking nothing can go wrong, since thats kind of what I have becomed to expect of operating system. But boy was I wrong! Halfway into the update the power went in the house and when it got back I booted the computer expecting to continue the update, but no. I was met with a BSOD during the startup of the operating system!.
Today I repaired/reinstalled the OS, and set it up the developer-applications and libraries I wanted. And no BSOD so far, so Ill keep my fingers crossed. But 2 days for installing the combo of Vista/SP1/VS08/TFS is outraging! It only take me 3 hours tops to install OSX, Xcode and all required updates.
Simple is often the best
Posted on | October 8, 2008 | No Comments
Last week I bought a game for the first time using Xbox Live Arcade. The game I bought was Castle Crashers. This game is a simple sidescrolling beat-them-up game with simple flash-like graphics. And is almost as adictive as only a simple flash game can be. Games like this prooves that one do not need a budget in the million-class to make a game these days, and that cheers me up a little, since I someday hope to create a game (or be a big part of the creation process) and have it released on the marked for all to enjoy. I think the XKCD-strip beneath illustrates the power of simple but fun games :)
HTC Touch Pro for a weekend now
Posted on | September 15, 2008 | Comments Off
Last friday I received a HTC Touch Pro as a work-phone from the company where I now work. I had been looking forward to this upgrade of phone for a week or so, and had a big smile when I opened the box. iPhone packaging is beaten by the fancy packaging and opening experience you get from opening the touch pro box.
The phone itself are a fast little bugger. My previous phone was a htc s710 and the touch pro obviously beats it in all areas. Im not going to write a review or a test here, but I am really positively surprised of the abilities and quickness of this phone. Plus background-processes rocks! Went on a little trip in the woods today and just let the phone record my gps-coordinates in the background, so that using a gps program a could measure speed and length of my walk. (Not that I really need it, but its just fun to have the ability, hehe.)
Ill just need to install Visual Studio and Windows XP at my home computer now, so I can start fiddling with it :D Maybe some nifty programs will be posted here in the future? One never know :P If you know a program, feature or other you want for your WM6 device, leave a comment and maybe I will start work on it?
Working vs studying – 1 month later
Posted on | August 29, 2008 | Comments Off
After I now officially have gone 1 month of not being a student and been working full-time, I have made myself some thoughts of what I miss from being a student and what I do not miss at all.
Things I miss:
- Sleeping into the early afternoon
- The partying and student social life
- Learning bleeding edge technology in my field of study
- The student discounts
Things I DO NOT miss:
- Being poor
- Being poor :P
- Being poor :P :P