Hello,
I have a PCB that is communicating with an android handheld via a USB UART connection.
The PCB handles a d-pad over a serial connection, also has a few other un-mapped keys.
What is the best way of having the android OS recognize the d-pad controls natively, as in I would like to map a home button, back, menu etc as well as the d-pad
It seems as though there are already provisions made within the android OS to handle full external keyboards and joysticks etc
If someone has achieved something similar, such as connecting a serial joystick/dpad/keyboard over USB bridge, please chime in.
Thank you for everyones help in advance.
BUMP!!
willing to pay for someone to help figure this out!
$$$$$$$$$$$$
Related
Connecting Keyboard Like Devices via USB or Bluetooth To Mogul
I have searched through the posts here and in other forums and have not found a precise or complete answer to these questions. Any help would be appreciated. I'm not an expert. I did read one post about using the Mogul as a control device ( keyboard ) however a very useful application is to use the Mogul as a data collection device in the field, especially when end users may have devices all ready connecting to laptops/desktops via the USB and seen as ASCII output ( like a 101 keyboard ).
Does the Mogul have USB host capability through the connector? There seems to be conflicting opinions. If it does what is needed to turn on the capability?
This is the scenario I am trying create without having to rebuild or build new devices. A cost effective solution is the goal.
Assume the data collection devices I want to connect to the Mogul have a standard USB connector and wiring the same as a USB 101 type keyboard ( though the devices are not keyboards ) and the signals coming out of the connector are the same. The data stream is ASCII character stream. The USB devices are self powered so they do not need to draw the 5 volts from the Mogul.
The goal is to connect such a device to the Mogul directly via the USB connector so that it looks like a keyboard OR connect the device to an external Bluetooth transmitter that looks like a Bluetooth keyboard.
Off the self product would be preferable to having to black box the project.
It would seem simple considering there are USB Bluetooth transmitters at fairly low cost, but I have not been able to find one for this specific application. Hacking and existing Bluetooth keyboard might work but it would be a bulky solution, a considerable downside as well as expense for each of the devices.
I'm not a corporate Mogul, just a single employee end user who has specific data collection needs.
Thanks in advance
It was suggested in the Titan forum on another subject that this type of discussion would be more appropriate and fruitful in the developer area.
I have just enough knowledge and experience to be dangerous with a soldering iron and electronic parts.
Connecting Keyboard Like Devices via USB or Bluetooth To Mogul
I have searched through the posts here and in other forums and have not found a precise or complete answer to these questions. Any help would be appreciated. I'm not an expert. I did read one post about using the Mogul as a control device ( keyboard ) however a very useful application is to use the Mogul as a data collection device in the field, especially when end users may have devices all ready connecting to laptops/desktops via the USB and seen as ASCII output ( like a 101 keyboard ).
Does the Mogul have USB host capability through the connector? There seems to be conflicting opinions. If it does what is needed to turn on the capability?
This is the scenario I am trying create without having to rebuild or build new devices. A cost effective solution is the goal.
Assume the data collection devices I want to connect to the Mogul have a standard USB connector and wiring the same as a USB 101 type keyboard ( though the devices are not keyboards ) and the signals coming out of the connector are the same. The data stream is ASCII character stream. The USB devices are self powered so they do not need to draw the 5 volts from the Mogul.
The goal is to connect such a device to the Mogul directly via the USB connector so that it looks like a keyboard OR connect the device to an external Bluetooth transmitter that looks like a Bluetooth keyboard.
Off the self product would be preferable to having to black box the project.
It would seem simple considering there are USB Bluetooth transmitters at fairly low cost, but I have not been able to find one for this specific application. Hacking and existing Bluetooth keyboard might work but it would be a bulky solution, a considerable downside as well as expense for each of the devices.
I'm not a corporate Mogul, just a single employee company / end user who has specific data collection needs.
Thanks in advance
Hy everyone,
First of all, thanks for this great forum which never fails to impress me.
I have a question which some of you might help answering: I'm wondering if it's possible to use the mini-usb port of my smartphone to get some data input.
Let me explain myself a bit more: I know that smartphones (HTC Touch for me) aren't USB hosts. However, the data connexions are still present.
Here's what I'd like to do: even though the smartphone can't control another peripheral, I'd like that external peripheral to send data to the smartphone, and the smartphone to use that data to control the screen. That would give an alternative way of controlling the screen.
The input would come from another touch surface, so my guess is that using the data to control the screen shouldn't be much of a problem.
So? Any idea if it's possible? What kind of platform/language would be nice to do that? C#?
(I have JAVA development experience, but I'm quite a newbie as far as Win Mobile devs are concerned. I'm willing to learn though
I think I searched this forum (and others) quite extensively before posting. If by any chance I missed a related post, I'd be glad to know about it
No ideas? Anyone?
Last up before I stop...
prob. not
i dont think that is technically possible. i think one has to be the host, and that host provides power. so to power the input device(im thinking keyboard) it would need the smartphone/ppc to be a host....
but i have no clue in this area...maybe someone could prove me wrong?
Hey, thanks for your answer.
The powering issues could be overcomed by cutting the cables and giving power from an external power source (I think several people have tried doing it, I need to find the links again). By the way, the peripheral itself is plugged on 110V, so there's plenty of available power
I'm not seeking here to "control" the device, just to aquire the signal it's sending... Does that seem feasible, or does the peripheral need to be somehow "activated" by a Host before sending anything?
Well, in order to get data, the host must ask the slave each time it needs some. Other things must be done by the host, like usb enumeration. That means there has to be a host or it won't work, unless you use usb on-the-go, but I do not know many devices that support it.
according to the qualcomm website, the msm chipsets support otg
Can anyone recommend a starting point to get a motorcycle controller built? I have been playing with Xbox/PS3 controllers and they provide basic system controls of up, down, left, right, back, select capability and I would like at least these basics on a controller that is thumb accessible on a motorcycle. I would also like to add volume up and down. Since the usb drivers are built into android, Could the board be easily created? Once the board is created, building the enclosure would be relatively simple. I use my phone on the dash of my bike for GPS/Phone/Music through my bluetooth helmet.
Personally, I'd use a Teensy (ATMega32u4 USB board),
but that's because I've already used it for a project and it would be easy to get this one done.
If you wanted to be cheesy, you could gut an old USB keyboard and take out the board.
Figure out what cross connections give you the keyboard commands that you want.
Hi,
I am new to android hardware (have some experience with programming for Dalvik & NDK). I have an idea to use my old Android phone as a robot OS. However for that I'd need to connect more sensors to my device. I know this could be done over BT, but I am more thinking of wiring them to the OS. Is there anyone here that has any experience with that / know any link talking about that?
I am mostly thinking about connecting an array of microphones to the Android motherboard ...
Thanks in advance for your help...
Shahab.
shahab.fm said:
Hi,
I am new to android hardware (have some experience with programming for Dalvik & NDK). I have an idea to use my old Android phone as a robot OS. However for that I'd need to connect more sensors to my device. I know this could be done over BT, but I am more thinking of wiring them to the OS. Is there anyone here that has any experience with that / know any link talking about that?
I am mostly thinking about connecting an array of microphones to the Android motherboard ...
Thanks in advance for your help...
Shahab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
find a port that will accept it, and mod the OS to accept it and you should be fine
shahab.fm said:
I am mostly thinking about connecting an array of microphones to the Android motherboard ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on what you do with the audio from those microphones you're going to need support hardware (op-amps, etc.). I think you'd be better off using an intermediary device to interpret the audio and the send it to the Android device as serial data through the USB port. This can be done with an IOIO board, Arduino, etc.
I will try with IOIO to see how it goes
Hi,
I guess I would be trying IOIO in first attempt and see if I can find anything similar to IOIO but working with Bluetooth instead ...
Thanks for your help.
Bluetooth is definitely the simplest option to get going with.
If your phone and OS support USB host mode, then the other option is to use USB. I'm not sure what sound card support is like in Android, but if all else fails you could make your own USB device with an Arduino or similar to do the signal processing. Of course, then you might not need the phone...
If you have mad electronic and soldering skills you might also be able to hack into an I2C bus line. You'd then need to add some driver (maybe kernel support) for the device(s). But this would probably only work for sensors other than microphones (they're probably too high bandwidth for this method and probably don't use I2C anyhow).
I've dreamed of adding a flash LED to my phone in this way but been put off by the difficulty of the electronics and programming of it all and the fact I'd need to make an ugly case mod
This is way dirtier then just using Bluetooth or USB but I'd love to see someone try it