retrointerfacing

While making a dynamixel library for Processing, I started fiddling around with a simple humanoid head that I constructed earlier (as temporary setup for the soccer Humanoid). This head consists of three AX-12+ types dynamixel servo’s by Robotis, and two Logitech Webcam’s (currently only one used). The control software in Processing controls the head (basic a pan-tilt set-up) with a joystick, while panning the recorded image on a canvas. Due to the lack of precision in the joystick movements, this yields a Hockney-style image!.. So basically David Hockney is a mal-adjusted pan-tilt camera…. See this youtube clip for the generator in action!

For video capture the processing.video libraries have been used (don’t forget to install winVDIG from here). For joystick input proCONTROLL has been used. The dynamixel servo’s are controlled using a USB2DYNAMIXEL adapter. The java-sources that come with the dynamixel SDK have been recompiled (using JDK5.0 -> java 1.5.x version required) and packed with the processing source.

Picture generated with robothead

Head

Ok, I know that there is a wide community building DIY beamers using screens and overhead projectors (or even custom ordered sets of Fresnel lenses).. but that does not prevent me from putting my own together.. in less than 10 minutes (the time it took to remove the top mirror of the overhead - the tft monitor had been disassembled previously)

requirements

Overhead projector, ventilator, 15” tft (with defective backlight or inverter, so completely taken apart), laptop or other VGA source

My phone doesn’t support reading of txt files or pdf. Upgrade to an i-phone would be the most sensible thing to do. However, my phone does have a 320×240 screen, capable of displaying images… How to make something out of that? I found a simple solution on this weblog, converting a text file using Latex into a 1500 page pdf with pages of 320×240 points (pt). Using ImageMagick this pdf can be converted to a directory of images of 1500 jpg’s in readable format. It took some tweeking of font size, but I managed to read a couple of books on the plane to china (phone in airplane-mode). The source of the book was taken from project Gutenberg. Below the used latex source. The commands used were latex book.tex then converting it to .ps using dvips -o book.ps book.dvi. and finally converting it with imageMagick to a dir full of jpg’s using convert -antialias -negate book.ps book%03d.jpg
 

documentclass[10pt]{article}
usepackage[vcentering,dvips]{geometry}
usepackage{helvet}
geometry{papersize={240pt,320pt},total={220pt,300pt}}
begin{document}raggedrightbegin{textsf}begin{LARGE}
The War of the Worlds, by H(erbert) G(eorge) Wells [1898] ….
end{LARGE}end{textsf}end{document}