Technology Research Assignment
Major Studio: Interactivity

Networked Objects
Introduction
from http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/~tigoe/pcomp/net-obj.shtml

"Microcontrollers such as the BasicX microprocessor, the Basic Stamp, and the PIC have opened up many new possibilities because they've given us the freedom of physical design that working directly with a microprocessor allows without having to learn a great deal of low-level programming and electrical engineering. Being able to think about and prototype physical interface design directly, without having to work through a full engineering process, has made the design process much more spontaneous. Any set of design tools introduces limitations, however, and the these tools are no different. Physical computing projects (based on the Basic Stamp, PIC, or BX-24) have tended to be about things that these processors do well: reading sensors, controlling simple actuators, or communicating serially to a local desktop computer to control multimedia. Up until recently, however, few microcontroller-based projects took advantage of the Internet, because there were not many higher-level prototyping tools available that made it easy to connect to the net. (Tom Igoe, 2004)

1) COBOX MICRO:

Embedded Device Servers
http://www.lantronix.com/device-networking/embedded-device-servers/micro.html

Serial-to-ethernet controllers are lightweight devices designed to be used with a separate standalone processor. They have an ethernet connection and one or more serial connections, and act as a bridge between them. Like the ethernet controllers, they're not programmable, but they are configurable. Typically, each serial port can be assigned a TCP or UDP port number so that other network devices can connect to them. They can't process data themselves, other than to extract the data from within an ethernet packet. The baud rates and other parameters of the serial ports are also configurable. Lantronix makes a number of these devices.

Why Cobox ?

It can open a TCP socket between the serial device they're connected to and a remote internet address, and let the two devices communicate through them. So, we can communicate between Flash and Microcontroller via XML socket. (Historically, Macromedia Flash doesn't support serial communication unlike other applications such as Director, Java, Processing, MAX/MSP, etc.

for more information please visit Tom Igoe's Website http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/~tigoe/pcomp/cobox/index.shtml


Limitations ?

- it has to connect ethernet cable (not wireless like WiPort)

Example Cobox + Flash Project
- Playmusicbox.com A playful interactive MusicBox created by Jin-Yo Mok in collaboration with Gicheol Lee.

more cobox projects

- http://www.walking-productions.com/school/nob/journal.html
- http://stage.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~mt807/fall04/network5.html

2) BasicStamp-based output technology (Audio, Visual)

- Sound Module
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=29111

The Sound Module is a small recording and playback studio. With an 8KHz bandwidth, both voice and music are handled with good quality. There is a small microphone on-board for recording, or you can use the line-in connection for a direct recording. Similarly, the sound produced can be heard using the miniature speaker, or can be directed to the line-out jack. There are 150 message slots, each 0.4 seconds, for a total of 60 seconds of sound. You may use these message slots as one large message, 150 very short messages, or any permutation thereof. These message slots may be recorded and played individually or in contiguous groups using a BASIC Stamp or any other intelligent device capable of RS-232 (TTL level) communication

- Serial LED
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=27923

This very popular LCD consists of a Supertwist 2x16 LCD with the original LCD Serial Backpack interface factory installed. This display is the right choice if you require a small footprint and low current draw (2-3 mA without backlight). Commands allow scrolling, cursor positioning, and ASCII character support. Backlit Display has a 2400/9600 baud serial input and posts for connecting to +5V, ground, and I/O.