Since the staff at the Shack had no idea other than to contact the manufacturer, I sat down and figured out how to get the photos out of my cell phone. You have to go to your e-mail, turn off the local filter or pop-ups, declare Virgin to be a trusted friend (insert Dave Barry style comment here) and don’t forget to turn the features back on. It takes much nicer pics than my regular camera.
Bingo was blah, but enough to keep me happy for the weekend. The gas gauge on the new scooter does not work, and it turns out to be a real kershmozzle to fix it. The quick solution is to carry a pint of gas, but then that becomes another logistic. Well, so what, with bingo, the gas is technically free anyway. Hey Theresa, wanna see your living room suite? I’m driving it. I'd say next time keep your promises, but there won't be a next time, liar.I was up past 1:00 AM (y’day), bothering with Arduino code. After several failed attempts to use PWM, I needed a booster, so I programmed some flashing lights. The wiring is not that difficult, but the code is a mind-bender for anyone not keen on arrays. I did the said array in my head and it worked right the first time. I got a series of LEDs to flash in sequence, and varied that sequence. Two factors at work here are the sequence of the lights, and the physical pattern they are arranged in. I’m thinking on it and can already see two ways to get the same effect.
If a series of flashing lights controlled by a microprocessor can be defined as a robotic circuit, then I have at least done what I set out to accomplish. I estimated it would take six months, it took five weeks. I nevertheless want to create something that moves; something I have not done. If I can control lights, I can turn gears. By 2:00 AM, I got the array to self-generate random integers, as in rolling the dice.
[Author's note: if you run into the same problem with PWM where it quits working when you want to move on, this normal. You must choose one of the pins that has PWM designation, a "~" (tilde) or the pulse stops when you move to the next processor command. There is a second internal clock in the chip that keeps the PWM running. Arduino, and most engineers, fail repeatedly to mention this in the documentation."]
When I got things working, I put it on the table running. And sat there looking at it for a half hour. Thinking. The digital PWM signal is sent via the “analogWrite” command, another prime illustration of how engineers and programmers stay in touch with their users. I mean, what would you call it? Something dumb like “SendPWM” I suppose. Get with the programmer!
To think that programming should have become easier over the years. Now you spend half your time looking for strange and missing punctuation marks. The C family of languages are the worst thing that’s happened in the computer field in thirty years. It is a language for bastard rat mentalities. They claim it is “elegant”, something they wouldn’t know if it came along and bit them in the ass.
[Author’s note: don’t be misled by my ease with arrays, I’ve studied them since I was in college. The code is easy for me, but I’ve given up trying to find a partner who is good with the components. It was easier to make friends with a Virgin. Another caution, an array always leads to a matrix. Don’t you hate it when you get those two mixed up?
Later, I forget the humor about the Virgin, but it was capitalized so there must have been something to it at the time.]
Return Home
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
