I am not an Arduino guy. Other than the name I know next to nothing about it, but I have heard that Arduino seems to have endless uses. Someone is even using it for electronic bagpipes!
Could someone design a scoring system based on Arduino? Is it possible?
With a nod to JSHart's VSM, which was the inspiration for this idea, I thought I'd post this to see what people's thoughts were.
I guess my reasoning is if arduino mounted in a box would work, why tie up an entire laptop?
Arduino is C.A.F. too so I really think it could be ideal.
Someone who knows something about Arduino should weigh in. If enough people with enough knowledge make this a reality I'd be happy to create a website and have it hosted... OpenSource Fencing Equipment is a great idea.
This could really make it possible to have strips for under $ 200.00, even $100.00 with the overhead bungee system.
i actually have spent a little time attempting this, about a year ago. i had to stop the process due to having to relocate, but i think its a very viable concept. i had a basic epee box working and i believe that i could've had a sub-$100 retail machine available, since that is a major price point.
the big issue is that it would be, more than anything else, a donation of time to the fencing community, as there would be almost no way that the time spent designing and developing it would get covered from the selling of the machines at that price point. and thats totally fine, but that is the reason i stopped -- i didn't have the time, at that point. might kick it back up, now that you remind me.
Please do. For my part I will donate the creation/hosting of an open source site for fencing equipment. That way you won't feel alone in your donation.
Another thing people should donate is a physical box design and parts list.
Arduino seems to really be the bomb-diggity.. a universal electronics Legos set of sorts.
Please do. For my part I will donate the creation/hosting of an open source site for fencing equipment. That way you won't feel alone in your donation.
Another thing people should donate is a physical box design and parts list.
Arduino seems to really be the bomb-diggity.. a universal electronics Legos set of sorts.
It should be pretty easy. I made an epee only box from a Parallax Stamp chip:
It works fine, the box in the picture in the middle of the article has been used for about two years now, three nights a week.
I'm not clear on how Arduino is different from or better than a Parallax kit, but I'm sure you could make it work. The Parallax chip uses code written in Basic, whereas I think Arduino uses a sort of C++, doesn't it?
How much would the parts be for your box? You might find it's hard to beat a very cheap or free laptop and VSM, but of course there's also the fun of making your own box.
I think my page is missing the schematic. If you're interested I could dig it up or reproduce it, it's not complicated.
It works fine, the box in the picture in the middle of the article has been used for about two years now, three nights a week.
I'm not clear on how Arduino is different from or better than a Parallax kit, but I'm sure you could make it work. The Parallax chip uses code written in Basic, whereas I think Arduino uses a sort of C++, doesn't it?
How much would the parts be for your box? You might find it's hard to beat a very cheap or free laptop and VSM, but of course there's also the fun of making your own box.
I think my page is missing the schematic. If you're interested I could dig it up or reproduce it, it's not complicated.
K O'N
arduino is based on the amtel avr, which is really nice. its c-based.
It works fine, the box in the picture in the middle of the article has been used for about two years now, three nights a week.
I'm not clear on how Arduino is different from or better than a Parallax kit, but I'm sure you could make it work. The Parallax chip uses code written in Basic, whereas I think Arduino uses a sort of C++, doesn't it?
How much would the parts be for your box? You might find it's hard to beat a very cheap or free laptop and VSM, but of course there's also the fun of making your own box.
I think my page is missing the schematic. If you're interested I could dig it up or reproduce it, it's not complicated.
K O'N
Of course I'm interested!!! Anything that helps make fencing cheaper for people interested in it. We spend far too much on this sport as it is!! I also don't know where I would get laptops cheap enough to work with VSM. I actually have one per se but that doesn't help anyone else. I'm actually thinking of donating these boxes i build to my club and having them sell their high maintenance boxes off to someone else.
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Hardly, I still loathe nearly all of you. What few I don't are nearly always in the armory section.
I only actually stopped by because I was looking for a test box schematic and you cant see the PDF's without logging in. Meanwhile I saw this ad for Arduino on instructables.com and put 2 plus 2 together.
I did have to weigh in on the heart transplant thing/faith thread. Other than that and this particular thread I really do hate this place. Not only is it a dreadful timewaster, but I really just don't like the company.
Of course I'm interested!!! Anything that helps make fencing cheaper for people interested in it. We spend far too much on this sport as it is!!
I agree with that on principle, although it's amazing to me how good and cheap some stuff is compared to twenty five years ago when I started fencing.
I put a thread up about home programmed scoring boxes a couple of years ago when I had mine worked out, and got no interest. I had one kid who fenced with me make a box and take it with him, but no one as far as I know other than him actually built one. Perhaps that means my instructions suck, I don't know.
Quote:
I also don't know where I would get laptops cheap enough to work with VSM.
Ebay. Look for a Pentium I that actually works and boots. $30 or $40 max. You don't need a fast machine, and you don't need a working battery, just run a power cord to it.
Quote:
I actually have one per se but that doesn't help anyone else. I'm actually thinking of donating these boxes i build to my club and having them sell their high maintenance boxes off to someone else.
I think I pointed to it upthread. It's missing the schematic, I'll come up with it or draw a new one.
There are things to think about before you dive into this headlong, though. Is it really legal for USFA fencing? I call these "goodwill boxes"; they're fine for fencing in the club, where there's plenty of goodwill about. I wouldn't use them for a real competition. Read the page, I have a long screed on why that might not be a good idea for us all to be making our own boxes and using them in real events.
And they're epee only. I made a bench version of a foil epee box, and I made a bench version of a saber box, just to test the code, but I didn't have any foil or saber fencers to test them on.
And they're not labor free to make. By the time you design and build a few of them and debug them, you know, you better enjoy the process of messing with it because in terms of money saved over a cheap laptop from ebay and a VSM you're paying yourself about a buck an hour.
But if you do enjoy it, have at it, man. Use Arduino or a Parallax stamp chip or whatever you like. It's actually pretty enjoyable, as long as you don't have a herd of rabid thirteen-year-olds champing at the bit to fence, as I did, and only one old box working, so that the progress of the new boxes was a subject of considerable interest and the debugging process was under a certain amount of really focused scrutiny (COAAAAAAAAACH! HE HIT MY BELL GUARD, TELL HIM IT'S NOT A TOUCH! COAAAAAAAACH!). If you already have boxes working and this is just for fun, man. What luxury!
Have fun, pm me if the page is too incoherent to understand.
I don't doubt that you put a lot of thought into it. I think the fact that I'm open sourcing it is going to do away with most of this. People see others' code and design and chime in. Usually a good thing.
Also I don't think that people are going to game the system. I certainly wouldn't. My fencing, after a layoff of nearly 7 months is so bad that nothing would help.
1. The first being that developing in the Arduino environment is fairly easy from both a hardware and software perspective. There is a wide selection of discussion groups already on the web regarding development for this device.
2. The Arduino controller board with the Atmel Micor-controller chips are pretty capable and inexpensive.
3. The development environment runs in Java and is platform independent. primarily it compiles from a truncated C like language called Sketch.
4. If there were a software component to run on a PC it could also be developed in a Java environment effectively making it platform independent also.
For an official USFA competition, it might be dicey to run on such a home-grown box regardless of how well it works. I know the FIE has certification requirements, I would assume that the USFA either has their own, or mirrors those of the FIE. It would be fine for practice, or club tournaments.
I would be interested in helping with the effort, should I have a few extra moments in my schedule.
-Shlep'
PS. Instructables recently announced an Arduino based design contest running right this moment, I can't think of a better match than this.
1. The first being that developing in the Arduino environment is fairly easy from both a hardware and software perspective. There is a wide selection of discussion groups already on the web regarding development for this device.
2. The Arduino controller board with the Atmel Micor-controller chips are pretty capable and inexpensive.
3. The development environment runs in Java and is platform independent. primarily it compiles from a truncated C like language called Sketch.
4. If there were a software component to run on a PC it could also be developed in a Java environment effectively making it platform independent also.
For an official USFA competition, it might be dicey to run on such a home-grown box regardless of how well it works. I know the FIE has certification requirements, I would assume that the USFA either has their own, or mirrors those of the FIE. It would be fine for practice, or club tournaments.
I would be interested in helping with the effort, should I have a few extra moments in my schedule.
-Shlep'
PS. Instructables recently announced an Arduino based design contest running right this moment, I can't think of a better match than this.
i agree. i don't know if the USFA has any specific requirements, but asking someone like dan would be a good start. perhaps thats all it would take, a "dan gives it a thumbs up".
Hardly, I still loathe nearly all of you. What few I don't are nearly always in the armory section.
I only actually stopped by because I was looking for a test box schematic and you cant see the PDF's without logging in. Meanwhile I saw this ad for Arduino on instructables.com and put 2 plus 2 together.
I did have to weigh in on the heart transplant thing/faith thread. Other than that and this particular thread I really do hate this place. Not only is it a dreadful timewaster, but I really just don't like the company.
Mmkay.....
__________________
Ahmadinejad's wife to Ahmadinejad: Why are you always smiling? Nobody likes you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjwyQnEdATA- Set Adrift on Memory Bliss by my loves BSB
Considering that you can buy a fully-supported three-weapon FIE-spec scoring system for $240, and an IR Remote control for $25 more, one would have to value one's time at a near-zero hourly rate to make such a project worth the time and ongoing screwing around...
lets focus on this thread as a way to make arduino and the cheapest working solution we can come up with.
I'm definitely going to build a few. I have a fellow in India who says he has solved it with Arduino and is sending it to me in the spirit of open source. perhaps we can make it better?
eld, it is a nice box. This guy really did it right. simple, black, effective. Let's see if we can do better?
With Noodle, myself, perhaps you and others I've found I think we can make this work.
Surely the armory section that can spawn replica Dan boxes in a heart beat can improve upon it? Who knows. We should try.
Hey Rory the English guy emailed me back today. he included a pic and all the various code and stuff. I will email the full files to all and sundry who wish it but I'm wondering if theres a cheap place I can just place it for all to see.
After all I did say I'd put up a site for people to share work. Any suggestions? Oh duh.. fritzing.org It will all be posted there under Open Source Fencing Box
Meanwhile here's what he wrote:
Hi fatfencer,
I've dug up the code I wrote for my fencing box. I believe it's the latest version but I'm not sure if that's a good thing since it's might have stuff in it I was experimenting with to get it to work with sabre/epee. On it's default setting it's set to foil. Anyway, I've attached the a zip of the stuff that the Arduino development environment generates as well as a plain text file of the code. As I said it was a project that got cut short. I got it working for foil but not epee or sabre so there is some code in there that potentially allows you to switch modes. Of course nothing really happens when you switch to epee / sabre mode but it's in there. Attached is a wee bit of eyecandy. Looks incredibly amateur but I think it's meant to prove you don't need a lot to get this stuff to work. I think in a later version of my block I did install a little button and 3 lights to switch between the different modes.
OK, that's what I have as it stands. If I find the time I will test the code to make sure it's working properly. I'll also add more comments so that people can understand the madness of the code. In the meantime, if you are thinking of publishing the circuitry used I would recommend 'Fritzing' - http://fritzing.org/ I'd explain what this is about but you'd be better off looking at the site yourself. Anyway, I must dash now but I hope the site is coming on ok!
Regards,
Rory
Last edited by fatfencer; 10-16-2009 at 11:27 AM..
Reason: cuz its too early
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