MiXiM Simulator: Collecting total radio transmitting/idle times? - simulation

I'm developing a MAC layer protocol and I need to collect physical layer total radio idle and transmitting times.
I've found that the INET framework provides this automatically, but I've been searching for the past 10 days for a similar solution under MiXiM without success.
Is there any method to do this built into Omnet++ or MiXiM? I assume this is a very common metric?
Thanks very much for any pointers.
Best wishes,
Jose Fonseca

Related

Dump the firmware from an STM8 microcontroller

I have a 600W digital step up converter with broken STM8S103K3T6C and another that is currently working OK. Is there a way to copy (dump) firmware from the working one and upload it to the new chip. Since I have only one working, I have to be extra careful not to damage the working controller. I do have some basic experience with STM32, but I am grateful for any help I could get. I have a copy of ST-Link v2 programmer. Apparently (if there is a way), it has to be done via SWIM (which I don't nothing about, started reading few days ago). Not sure what is the proper way to start. Converter itself has UART pins at the right side of the board.
Thanks in advance.
if the chip is not locked, yes it's possible using SWIM interface. use STVP tool to extract firmware from the old one or to program it to the new one. it is bundled in a package called "ST toolset" for STM8 and downloadable from ST website. the SWIM needs 1 pin (plus reset if target uses that pin). despite that the STM8s hvae 3~5V supply, it's better to use 3.3V supply for it for the sake of the other circuitry. you can extract it even when the device is on, so there's no need to connect a supply pin from programmer to it.

Is it possible to send realtime commands from PC to PLC

We are using a frequency inverter to power a servo motor. This has to be programmed using PLC. Is it possible to gather data from a running program, using values from that to control the movements / frequency of the inverter?
(as an example; We built a racing game, we'd like to build a simulation chair that can support a grown person and act on accelaration / braking etc in the game)
Thanks
Yes, I believe what your asking is possible. I personally use a VB script running on a PC to write to registers in a PLC... so that's one way to do it.

Recording multi-channel audio input in real-time

I am trying to perform Time Difference of Arrival in real-time using the PS3 Eye. Since it has a built-in 4 microphone array, I've successfully rearranged the array into a square array and cross-correlated the signals using MATLAB to obtain a relatively accurate TDOA algorithm. However, so far I've been recording the signal, saving the files (4 individual files for each microphone in the array), and then feeding those files into MATLAB to read after-the-fact.
My problem is: MATLAB doesn't recognize the PS3 Eye's microphones separately; it only recognizes it as a whole. So far, Audacity is one of the few programs that actually works well in doing so, but I am inexperienced in using the program and don't know its real-time capabilities. Anyone have suggestions as to how can I can perform real-time signal analysis in this manner? If using something else besides the PS3 Eye would work better, then I am open to suggestions. Thanks.
I know very little about MATLAB or PS3 eye, but various hardware microphones allow you to capture a single audio stream containing multiple (typically 2) channels. The audio data will come to you in frames, each frame containing a single sample for each channel.
I'm not really sure what you mean by "recognizes as a whole", but I assume you mean MATLAB is mixing the channels so that the device only produces one usable channel. If you can capture the channels to file, and they all originate from the same device (i.e. hardware clock), you should be fine except that this solution is not "realtime".
There is a similar discussion on Sound Exchange which ends up suggesting the Microcone. There are a variety of other products, from microphone arrays to digital mixers for analog mic sources, also, but your question seems to be mainly about how to get the data with software.
In short, make sure you are seeing a single device with multiple channels. This will ensure each channel uses the same hardware clock and will prevent drift issues.
This is just a wild guess as I don't know know about MATLAB real time input options.
Maybe try reaper ( http://www.reaper.fm/ ).. it has great multi track capabilities and you can extend it (I think the scripting language is python ). Nice documentation and third party contributions, OSC and Rewire support. So maybe you could think of routing the audio to reaper, doing some data normalization there in python and then route data to MATLAB.
Or you could use PURE DATA which is open source and very open, with lots of patches (basic processing units) that you could probably put together.
HTH
BTW I am in no way affiliated wit reaper or PD.
EDIT: you might also want to consider supercollider (http://supercollider.github.io/) or Chuck (http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/)
Here's a lead, but I haven't been able to test it, yet.
On Windows, you can record a single 4 track ogg audio file from the Eye with Audacity (using the WASAPI driver selection).
As of 23 Jul 2014, the pa-wavplay for 32-bit and 64-bit MEX supports WASAPI. You will have to rebuild the PortAudio library to select the WASAPI interface as described here and get all four tracks in MatLab (in Windows).
Sadly, if you're not on Windows, I don't have any suggestions. Adjusting the PortAudio build might help, but I only know that WASAPI works with the Eye.

Can an NXT brick really be programmed with Enchanting and adaption of Scratch?

I want my students to use Enchanting a derivative of Scratch to program Mindstorm NXT robots to drive a pre-programmed course, follow a line and avoid obstacles. (Two state, five state and proportional line following.) Is Enchanting developed enough for middle school students to program these behaviors?
I'm the lead developer on Enchanting, and the answer is: Yes, definitely.
The video demoing Enchanting 0.0.4 shows how to make a proportional line follower (and you could extend it to use a PID controller, if you wish). If you download the latest version, 0.2.2, it includes a sample showing a two-state line follower (and you can see a video and download code here). You, or with some instruction / playing around, a middle-schooler, can readily create a program to do n-states, and, especially if you follow a behaviour-oriented approach, you can avoid obstacles at the same time.
As far as I know, yes and no.
What Scratch does with its sensor board, Lego Wedo, and the S4A - Scratch for Arduino - version as well as, I believe, with NXT is basically use its remote sensor protocol - it exchanges messages on TCP port 42001.
A client written to interface that port with an external system allows communication of messages and sensor data. Scratch can pick up sensor state and pass info to actuators, every 75ms according to the S4A discussion.
But that isn't the same as programming the controller - we control the system remotely, which is already very nice, but we're not downloading a program in the controller (the NXT brick) that your robot can use to act independently when it is disconnected.
Have you looked into 12blocks? http://12blocks.com/ I have been using it for Propeller and it's great and it has the NXT option (I have not tested)
It's an old post, but I'll answer anyway.
Enchanting looks interesting, and seems to be still an active project.
I would actually take the original Scratch (1.4), as it's is more familiar and reliable.
It's easy to interface hardware with Scratch using the remote sensor protocol. I use a simple serial interface (over a USB-adapter) which provides 3 digital inputs and 3 digital outputs. With that, it's possible to implement projects such as traffic lite, light/water/heat-sensors, using only lets, resistors, reed-contacts, photo-transistors, switches, PTSs.
The costs are < 5$
For some motor-based projects like factory belts, elevator, etc. There is not much more required, a battery and a couple of transistors/relais/motor driver.

Atmega64 pins question. SCL/SDA same as TXD/RDX?

I'm not an Atmega pro by any means whatsoever. In fact, never worked with them. I'm trying to add an external eeprom using i2c interface to a device that uses an Atmega64 controller. From the datasheet, I see that pins 25 and 26 are labeled PD0/PD1 and are the SCL/SDA for i2c. That's fine and dandy. So then I go to the board and start tracing. I see that those go to a rocker switch with some simple circuitry that I haven't had a good look at yet, but I assumed it was something i2c compatible. But then what dawned on me was that this device has two such rockers so I expected to trace the other rocker back to the same two pins (since i2c is a bus that can have multiple slaves). Instead, they traced back to the two adjacent pins 27 and 28 labeled PD2/PD3 and RXD1/TXD1. Well, now that confused me.
I expected that I could add the memory in parallel on the SCL/SDA lines, but does what I now figure that what I discovered either means:
SCL/SDA is interchangeable with RXD1/RXD2 or
I'm confused on how SCL/SDA works and its not a bus or it can be used as a simple input?
Sadly, I'm not really sure what I'm asking. Can someone shed some light on this? Should I still be able to add the memory to SCL/SDA or probably not?
Thanks.
Steve
Nevermind, I found the answer. Its BOTH a bus and a simple input... either one or the other. In this case, its being used as an input so I can't also use it as a bus. Darn. Oh well.