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Netduino Console


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#1 Bendage

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Posted 29 September 2012 - 01:48 AM

After a year of development on my free time I'd like to present Netduino Console.

A dynamic plugin interface with a built in messaging layer for you to create control plugins that send and receive events to and from the Netduino Controller.

You can find the source code at https://netduinoconsole.codeplex.com

Linked is a quick demonstration of some of the capabilities of what the Netduino Console can do.

Feedback and questions are welcome.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxBPoAudAKA&feature=channel&list=UL

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#2 hanzibal

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Posted 29 September 2012 - 02:14 AM

Bendage, that is just so cool - very impressive and very professional looking and I take it, you are one :)

As I understand from the video, you've actually created, like a 10th generation programming environment for the Netduino and that would probably help the whole "global microcontroller hobbyist's communty" in moving towards a common goal of making the stuff that we're doing more available to everyone. I find that to be a really great thing - congrats!

What components other than the PWM do you have (or planning to have)?

The codeplex project seems not yet published, is it that fresh or am I missing something?
http://netduinoconsole.codeplex.com/

As said, the application looks very good too - Did you use some kind of ready-made framework for the GUI or did you make it from scratch?

Darn, I find this interesting and I probably got tons of questions coming up....

Again, congrats on a big achievement!

Btw, looks as if I was the first to watch your video so I guess it's all very fresh indeed :rolleyes:
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#3 Gutworks

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Posted 29 September 2012 - 03:12 AM

Bendage, absolutely amazing. I can't wait to grab the source and start playing with it. I will certainly have a ton of questions coming. I also can't wait to see some more demos as well and watch this puppy grow! Kudos! Steve

#4 Mario Vernari

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Posted 29 September 2012 - 04:17 AM

Hello Brian! Your app is awesome. It's clear that it took you ton of work, because the complexity. Anyway, I don't have still clear what's the real purpose: is it a study-bench, or you could turn a project into a self-standing app? I mean: is it a teaching/prototyping workbench, or is it much like a "Visual designer" for desktop apps communicating with a Netduino? I'd love to read some description/show-case, rather playing with sources (I guess they're hundreds of files). As Hanzibal asked, I too would like to know what else component has been developed. To closing, you deserve a point! Cheers PS: people says that South-Californians speak a kinda slang: your English is very clean, and fully understandable (at least for me)!...Okay, never hear what the people says.
Biggest fault of Netduino? It runs by electricity.

#5 Bendage

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Posted 29 September 2012 - 05:50 PM

Guys, Thank you for your interest in the Netduino Console. I've worked very hard to create a professional environment to test and run visual communication components for the Netduino. First, the Codeplex page has been published and you can now download the source. There are many places I wish to take this. The goal is to get this working with the Netduino Go! and create a control component for each module that comes out. Also a TCP/IP messaging layer is being worked on. As of right now these are the components published with the source Code: - PWM Component Control - Accelerometer Component Control - LED Component Control - Force Pressure Sensor Component Control - Stepper Motor Component Control As you know, the Netduino Plus does not have a ton of memory. Tweaking the controller engine to receive byte streams of over 2048 bytes at a time with each message has been very difficult. Plus, MF 4.2 is very sensitive... throwing all kinds of non-intuitive exceptions. This has been very difficult to track down. But the Console is pretty stable as the video shows. All of the code is mine from the ground up, excluding two controls used in the GUI. A custom panel control and a listview control that allows progress bars. These were taken from the CodeProject website. The messaging layer was designed as a 'message factory' much in the same way we use connection strings to connect to database drivers. This means we can snap in another messaging layer besides serial with little effort. More videos are coming, as I'm sure it may not be intuitive yet on how to start coding your own components. But I assure you it takes very little effort to design your own components and get up and running rather quickly. Unfortunately all of my time has been put into the stability of the engine. Now that this has been complete I can spend more time creating robust components for us as a community. The concept of the Netduino Console is in fact to create a visual way to send and receive events and messages back and forth between your PC and the controller without the headache of the lower layers. My goal is to obviously get people up and running quickly to take advantage of the capabilities this gives you as a developer, AKA professional tinkerer. The interface can indeed be run as a standalone application (sort of) in that the configuration files can be associated with the console.exe and setting can be configured to connect, initialize and start the communication automatically. In other words, double clicking a config file will load the console along with the project, connect to the controller and begin sending and receiving messages without user interaction. I really hope that when you realize what this offers you as a developer, you will become as excited as I have been to get this "puppy" up and running. :) Would love you hear your thoughts on what kind of components you'd like to see. Thanks again for your warm responses. Brian And Mario.... I lika the way you talka too!

#6 carb

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Posted 29 September 2012 - 09:29 PM

Bendage, Very Nice Job, both your project and Mario's should be a great help for those of us with a programming handicap. I was going to look behind the console, but was afraid that the Phillip Head screwdriver might damage my touch screen. Thanks again, Chuck

#7 Nevyn

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Posted 30 September 2012 - 06:59 AM

After a year of development on my free time I'd like to present Netduino Console.

Nice work :)

Regards,
Mark

To be or not to be = 0xFF

 

Blogging about Netduino, .NET, STM8S and STM32 and generally waffling on about life

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#8 Paul Newton

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Posted 30 September 2012 - 03:39 PM

Well done Brian!

This is a great piece of work.
You obviously have much too much free time on your hands!

I think you might get more followers if you add an episode "zero" to the youtube video(s). In episode zero (I think) you should just show what it can do rather than spending lots of time explaining how. Once they are hooked then they will want to watch episode 1 to find out how it works.

Look forward to seeing it progress.

Paul

#9 hanzibal

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Posted 30 September 2012 - 03:56 PM

I think you might get more followers if you add an episode "zero" to the youtube video(s). In episode zero (I think) you should just show what it can do rather than spending lots of time explaining how. Once they are hooked then they will want to watch episode 1 to find out how it works.

I totally agree with Paul here - a zero episode would be a turn-key to understanding what the Console is all about.

#10 Bendage

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Posted 30 September 2012 - 06:57 PM

Haha! Love the feedback. OK I will work on that. Meanwhile (jumped the gun) a video on how to create a component control has been added. http://netduinoconso...cussions/397465

#11 Igor Kondrasovas

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 12:55 AM

Hello Bandage, Congratulations for the project!! How hard it will be if had to use the message mechanism you created without the user interface? Imagine that I want to exchange messages to Netduino from an existing desktop application I already have? Another question is: What is the connection type between Netduino and the PC? Serial? Thank you for the nice work! Igor

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#12 Bendage

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 02:19 AM

Hi Igor. You're in luck. Everything you need for communications has been wrapped inside the commandlibrary.dll for the desktop and the controllibrary.dll for the controller. Yes, as of right now, serial is the only message factory

#13 DonFL

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 01:38 PM

I totally agree with Paul here - a zero episode would be a turn-key to understanding what the Console is all about.


And for those of us who are relative novices to netduino and netmf, some basic documentation/tutorial on how to set up the console..install, getting it started, etc.

#14 Bendage

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 11:48 PM

And for those of us who are relative novices to netduino and netmf, some basic documentation/tutorial on how to set up the console..install, getting it started, etc.



Hi Don,

Welcome to the Netduino Community.

These posts have got me thinking about the design of this console and I admit from standing out looking in, it looks rather cumbersome. I've been very busy this week adding many new features that will help non-developers use this tool. In fact, my new goal is to modify this so no coding is necessary. Here are some of the new features coming (almost done)...

- The Console now supports typed data parameters... this is good for using components you did not create that will not allow you to put an alpha value where a numeric value is required.

- Any numeric parameter will now be automatically graphed in real time so you can view data exchanged in a nice graphical output and even save that data.

- A toolbox is being designed for you to drag and drop components onto your GUI just like visual studio which will load all default parameters.

- The Netduino Controller wrapper will now be sealed so that you can now use the console without even opening visual studio and any components used will be automatically uploaded to the controller.

Once I am done with these changes I will quickly throw together some useful universal components and a quick video of the final tutorials and then start on documentation.

Thanks for your patience. I promise it will be worth it.

#15 zemuss

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Posted 25 October 2012 - 07:18 PM

Bendage, If you need another C# developer let me know and I would love to help! I am just getting starts with the .NET Micro Framework, but can help if needed. I was thinking how it would be great to create some type of COMMON CODE that anyone could take and run with. "Z"




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