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Got the Parallax continuous rotation servo to work perfectly today morning! I think this is the easiest type of motor control you can ever have - simply send pulses with different ON times and the servo rotates in both directions at different speeds!
Work to be done: get the sonar working - clean up the kernel code and write a proper driver - try to compile Python for the AVR32 and run it from an SD card - experiment with Lua - assemble the robot!
Software Freedom Day is being celebrated in Trichur on Sep 14 and 15th. The venue is the `Chamber of Commerce' hall, Palace road. This year's celebrations will highlight the efforts of a dedicated group to bring Malayalam language computing to GNU/Linux.
Local newspapers and magazines are beginning to take a strong interest in GNU/Linux and Free Software. Don't be surprised if you see the venerable old `GNU' smiling at you when you open your newspaper:
It's high time that more people come to know of the Windows Genuine Disadvantage and opt for the wonderful world of freedom! Engaging people from different walks of life (other than computing) is essential if GNU/Linux is to fulfill its true potential - that's what the SFD celebrations in Trichur will attempt to do.
Update: Schedule and more details here .
The AT32AP7000 processor has two 16 bit timer/counter units each with three independent channels. TC0 (timer/counter unit 0) is used by the GNU/Linux kernel - so we will not touch it. We shall see how to program the timer/counter unit 1.
This is off-topic, but I think I should mention it. There ARE a lot of people who can never be motivated. Whatever you do, they simply won't change a bit. Sort of like the Malayalam saying in which a kid tells his uncle: `don't beat me uncle, I will not change'. I have been having a lot of frustration dealing with whole batch full of such students. But there seems to be a ray of hope. The current batch of 3rd sem students seem to be different. I had mentioned something about the `Obfuscated C code contest' in class yesterday and I see one fellow coming up with such a program today! I had asked them to read K&P and I see a few of them actually reading it and even coming and asking doubts! I mention something about `path' in class and I hear one or two guys shouting about `environment variables'. And, wonder of wonders, I see *boys* getting up and coming to class at 6:45 AM so that they can do something before I start my `regular' class at 7:15! Don't know how long this will last ... but I have hopes ...
Tested the PWM unit - had it been something like the Atmega without the burden of an OS on top of it, things would have been over in 10 minutes. But since I wanted to do things the `proper' way (stick with the interfaces which the kernel provides), it took some time to get all the bits and pieces together.
The PWM outputs (4 channels) will be used to drive the servos controlling the robot. Now I need to get a timer/counter unit active so that I can measure the width of pulses returned by the ultrasonic ranging module.
Here is more about programming the PIO controller. As usual, you will have to reload the page once or twice to get things rendered correctly.
Things are going to become more interesting ... I have some really cool stuff from Parallax which I am going to hook onto my ATNGW100.
The idea is to do something like this!
Written on the cover of the iPod which Gopu got for me from the US was this statement:
Don't steal music
Apple is being very considerate - they are calling us `thieves' and not `pirates'!
I had no second thoughts in getting rid of the Apple firmware and instead loading Rockbox, a very capable GPL'd replacement firmware which lets you play lots of audio formats (including Vorbis). The UI doesn't look pretty - but it does the job - my wife is using it without any problems.
MS India chairman Ravi Venkatesan has great words of wisdom for us.
The interviewer asks questions like:
Being a world leader, in a sense, in the software sector, can’t Microsoft make piracy-proof products?
To which Mr.Chairman answers:
Every time somebody invents a better mouse-trap, criminals figure out how to break that.
It's interesting to see how easily the common man has been fooled into believing that he becomes a criminal (that too, a pirate) when he `copies' something. It's not easy to convince people this is not the case - such is the power of the `psychological conditioning' carried out by software/media companies for the past many years.
Mr.Chairman goes on to say:
In Windows Vista, one of the things we are doing is: if you can’t show that you are using genuine [software] and you don’t go and get a genuine version, you will operate in ‘Reduced Functionality Mode’ — a very, very diminished state.
Industry insiders say that MS has tied up with Intel/AMD to implement a special assembly instruction called:
BLING
which when executed on a Pentium/Athlon/Sempron processor will result in the processor destroying itself by consuming a large amount of current. The next version of Vista, code named Vista++, will invoke the BLING (BLow up If Not Genuine) instruction if it finds out that you are not using a genuine version.
The mechanical dimensions of the ATNGW100 are given here. There are 3 expansion headers available - J5,J6 and J7. The pinout details are given here. I want to gain access to the PWM channels - so I decided to go with J5. An old hard disk cable came handy.
A few neat configfs tricks later, we are ready to blink LED's!
More GPIO related info here.
By the way, is it the end of the road for ioctl's?
Things to do immediately: read the gpio driver, write a PWM driver.
That's what Kishore has to say.
If I were to write something about this topic, I will go totally out of control, so I won't attempt it.
I still remember furiously attacking the author of a Hindi story by scribbling along the length and breadth of my textbook - I don't remember why - maybe because I found the story stupid and was angry at my teacher who made me learn the thing by-heart. What we see in B.Tech is just a continuation of the same `methodology'.
My advice to Kishore would be this - it's not easy for us to fight the system - as they say, `when you are in Rome, do as the Romans do'. So do whatever is necessary to get good marks. In the meantime, develop interest in some subject and pursue that with passion; that will compensate for all those hours of boredom!
Just a Hello, world, for now!
Note: There seems to be some problem with the way the linked site is rendered in Firefox. Try reloading the page one or two times and things should be fine.
As of today, natural resources, including habitats of several indigenous communities in India are being senselessly encroached upon by the state and state-sponsored agencies. One example is from the state of Chhattisgarh. The rivers, which have been the source of water and food for several tribal communities in the state, have been sold out to private water corporations by the state government. Once sold, the corporations prevent the indigenous tribes from using the river for any purpose.
The last few days have been exhausting, and expensive! Almost all the systems in my lab went down with some problem or other - be it related to RAM, hard disk or motherboard. Things came to a head when my good old server, `bhim', went down with a corrupted hard disk. I was forced to do a restructuring of the network - got new motherboards, memory,disk drives - installed Debian Etch on all machines. Things are somewhat `stable' now.
I have just now finished watching the documentary Good Copy, Bad Copy, a documentary about, as the web page says, the current state of copyright and culture. Watching a film like this helps to get the audience in a frame of mind where they can better appreciate the logic of Free Software. It's fascinating to see how the digital computer and the Internet are starting to give new dimensions to creativity and culture. How can a musician live without getting money from selling CD's? The documentary takes you to Brazil, and shows you how the Tecno Brega guys do it. Go watch it NOW!
The ability to copy information at zero cost, manipulate it in an infinite number of ways digitally and share it with a global audience of millions is revolutionary. Big recording companies, studios and software houses who have grown tremendously rich doing business the `old way' (as one person in the documentary says - `doing business in the rich countries, laying out a fence and calling everyone outside it a `pirate') feel threatened by this ability of the society to create its own culture (and its own software) - the society itself becomes the biggest competitor to these megacorps.Those who are intelligent enough to sense the emerging opportunites will survive by developing new business strategies which recognises (and builds upon) the power of sharing. Others, however big they might be, will soon become irrelevant.
PC's don't like the Monsoon - so it seems, going by the number of machines which fall `ill' during the time when God's own country is blessed with incessant rain! I am having a hard time repairing and troubleshooting the few supposedly `healthy' systems in my lab - that too at a time when new students are coming in.
I have a new gadget in my classroom - a Sony VPL ES3 LCD projector!
You can see my old Mac mini and an OpenWRT powered Linksys WRT54G in the pic.
It's always exciting to start with a new batch of students - there is always the expectation that you might `discover' a few motivated and talented guys/girls! I had a few good questions from the new batch. Here is a sample:
It's said that those students who start out looking forward to a management career switch over to the technical side under your influence. Is it true?
It seems that there are a lot of MBA aspirants in the new batch. God knows how they got so fascinated by MBA. One student was quick to point out that a B.Tech + MBA makes good `financial' sense!
Here is a chance for you to gain cutting edge degrees right here in India - the world's biggest, most advanced software superpower,. famous for the creation of card games, paint programs and eye-candy like Vista now announces the setting up of a MS university in the world's copy-paste capital, Bangalore. Initially, the following degrees will be offerred:
- Advanced diploma in mis-editing with MesS Word
- Advanced diploma in graphics, multimedia, animation and film-making with MesS Poor-Point
Later, University of MS has plans to offer graduate level courses covering topics like:
- 101 ways NOT to write highly secure operating system kernels
- Creation of advanced software technologies to screw the user and please Hollywood
MS is in the process of charting out a detailed syllabus. It is rumoured that the Harry Potter books figure prominently in the literature for these courses which are intended to create M$ Technology Wizards who will take the Indian copy-paste industry to dizzying heights.
Which is the cheapest Single Board Computer running GNU/Linux? If LinuxDevices.com is to be believed, it is the Atmel ATNGW100 based on a processor having a brand new architecture called the AVR32.
I ordered a board from Digikey on 25th Jun - this was my first experience sourcing a part directly from a US distributor. Luckily, there were no problems at all and I got it delivered home by the local post office today - there was a duty of Rs.500.
I have a few interesting ideas to implement using my NGW100 - one or two will be for fun and one will be for profit! Keep watching this blog!
PS: Justin says Digikey has increased the price from $70 to $89
The manner in which the venture was managed, says Mr Karmakar, seemed to suggest otherwise. For instance, the Tatas created tightly-bound employment contracts for the scientists working on the project, which prevented any kind of dissertation. A scientist who was on deputation from TIFR was unable to submit his thesis because of strict employment policies.
Such restrictions strike at the heart of the model of an open system that Mr Karmarkar had in mind when he took up the project. At its crux, scientific research is always a give-and-take model, he says. “When we started work on the project, we would perhaps have had to lean on other some people’s work.
So, it is incumbent on us to allow others to partake the benefits of our research, if scientific development has to take place,” he says.
It is said that the Tata's were once a company with vision and social commitment. Where has all that gone now?.
Karl Berry, long-time GNU developer and Texinfo maintainer, believes that "the GPL is the fundamental license that ties the free software community together, and version 3 does an excellent job of updating the license to the present-day computing reality." Elated by the new patent clause, he bemoans software patents as "a scourge on our cooperative efforts."
The GPL is indeed the foundation of the Free Software movement - without it, and an uncompromising visionary like RMS, "Linux" would have been just another technology fad. Long live the GPL!!
Some proprietary software is designed to restrict and attack its users. Windows Vista is a big advance in this field; the reason it requires replacement of old hardware is that the new models are designed to support unbreakable restrictions. Microsoft thus requires users to pay for shiny new shackles.
Read Your Freedom needs Free/Libre Software. by RMS.
It would be interesting to hear what M$ fans have to say about that!
Eric Jones and Prabhu Ramachandran will be conducting a 4 day course on Scientific Computing with Python at IIT Bombay from 16th to 19th July. More details here.
If you can get someone to sponsor you, go for it. It's sure going to be exciting!
