Physical Computing FAQ

[dnewton]

A lot of the issues with Arduino can be solved by referring to these steps. I hope that this helps some of you with any issues that occur.

***IMPORTANT***
***Arduino, Processing, the Logitech Quickcam drivers, WINDVG, Quicktime patch, and the I/O board drivers are installed on 9 of the machines in room 220. The teachers station and the next 4 on that row and the 5 closest to the projector screen across from these.***



Ques: My board is not communicating with the Arduino software, it does not see my I/O board when I plug it in to the machine.
Ans: Be sure that your script is correctly pointing to the correct port. If this doesn't fix the issue, then restart Arduino and the COM3 port should appear. Also, be sure that you have the correct model Arduino board selected in the software as well.

Ques: I plug in my I/O board but the COM3 Port is not showing up for me.
Ans: After logging into the machine, wait for the pop up in the lower right corner to say "found new hardware". After this open up Arduino and check for the correct COM port, it should be populated in there now.

Ques: I want to use my Digital Video Camera instead of the Logitech camera for a "Zoom" feature that the Logitech's do not have. What do I need to do?
Ans: As long as WinVDig is installed, a digital video camera will work fine. An administrator will simply need to sign in when the video camera is plugged in via usb or firewire so that the machine can automatically pick up the needed drivers. Once this is done, test it out with the test script in Processing and it will show the camera view. When a student logs in, it will work for them as well.