Search found 24 matches

by fidoracing
Mon Jan 28, 2013 9:18 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

Like I said, although similar logically, they are quite a bit different. I would have to change a lot in his program to make it work with mine, or change my hardware. At this point, it works fine, just as long as you follow the correct steps to get them on the same page. Lots of other things need my...
by fidoracing
Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:06 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

I have looked at his program, and although they do operate in a similar fashion logically, his is quite a bit different from mine. Also, like I said, I'm not sure what the communication issue really is between the two, so I'm not even real sure what I should be looking for. At this point, all I know...
by fidoracing
Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:40 am
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

I've tried fixing this issue a few times in the past, and it just doesn't seem to get better. If one gets a step ahead or behind, neither can compensate for the other. I don't know if there is a disconnect between what the track needs, and what the software needs to get on the same page, but its bee...
by fidoracing
Sun Jan 27, 2013 8:20 am
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

Glad you got it to work, and were able to perform your Derby. That is, after all, the whole point! :-) I used the v10 software this year too. I saw the upgrade, but there are always issues with the upgrades and just didn't have time to work the bugs out this year. I'll do it in my "spare time&q...
by fidoracing
Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:29 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

With the newer versions of GPRM, the Arduino and the GPRM software will sometimes butt heads if they are not "synced" properly. (By "synced", I mean at the same point in the race) I've noticed that there is a very specific order things have to be done initially to get them to pla...
by fidoracing
Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:32 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

Don't feel bad. When I wrote the origional program, it took me and two of my electronics buddies about 5 hours of banging our heads against the wall to figure out that we couldn't use numbers as communication bits. The GPRM kept getting confused as to which numbers were the times, and which were the...
by fidoracing
Sat Jan 29, 2011 2:46 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

A few observations looking at your code: In the "void setup" section, you have to call out all of your I/O pins as either inputs or outputs. If you look, you copied "pinmode(fin1, INPUT);" from my origional code, but never expanded it to include the four new lanes. I'm assuming t...
by fidoracing
Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:57 am
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

I got your e-mail with your modified code in it the other night, I just haven't had a chance to really look it over yet. From what I have seen it should work, but I want to look more closely. I have not tested a 4 lane version of this track. I was going to build one for a Cadets group near me, but t...
by fidoracing
Wed May 05, 2010 2:04 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

I didn't have one at the time, and the three vendors that I usually work with had them back ordered. It was less of an ability thing, and more of a "holy cow Pinewood is in three days" type of thing. :D In your opinion, would that board be able to communicate over a regular serial port? I ...
by fidoracing
Wed May 05, 2010 1:44 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

There is also the Arduino Pro-Mini http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardProMini" target="_blank Its about the same price, and has no headers so you can solder directly to it. This one also uses the updated chip, and has more RAM. I was going to use this one for my build, but I couldn't fi...
by fidoracing
Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:02 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

I used the IR transmitter and Receivers that you buy at Radio Shack. They are sold in pairs, and only cost about $3 or $4 for the pair. I went with IR because ambient light (lights, camera flashes, reflections, shadows, ect) can effect regular light sensors. The IR sensors proved to be much more sta...
by fidoracing
Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:46 pm
Forum: Commercial
Topic: "Lane Brain" line judge issues
Replies: 1
Views: 7413

"Lane Brain" line judge issues

The other night I helped a Cadets club with their pinewood derby. They have an older "Lane Brain" line judge, and it worked poorly at best. If the race was close, it would give the wrong order entirely, and some times it would just not pick up the cars at all. They were impressed with the ...
by fidoracing
Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:44 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

Our derby was on the 28th of January, and everything worked great! The laptop locked up once, but we had Media player running a CD in the background before the race started, and I forgot to shut it down. Once I shut it down, everything worked fine. The laptop has Vista on it, I'm sure that didn't he...
by fidoracing
Sat Jan 09, 2010 9:06 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

Got the demo races all set up and going. Seems to be working great. I also added a "force data send" command so you can stop the timing if one car fails to finish (we are only running two lanes). I will post the programming code when we get it all set up and cleaned up. Thanks for all your...
by fidoracing
Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:33 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?
Replies: 55
Views: 47248

Re: Will GP Software communicate with an Arduino?

I changed the commands that I had put in to non-numeric, and it seems to be working. Is there a way to run an actual race in the demo mode of the software?

I'm going to try to add more commands to the program over the weekend.