I now have quite a nice base for my SirBot project, highly configurable, and hopefully more stable now implementation is done using Twisted (no threads anymore). With this base, any data coming from the PIC (a request, a response, a message, see SirBot's doc for more), can be parsed and objects can be created from them. Then spread to whatever application needs them. Now the time has come to build a GUI...

For instance, I've experimented back-emf while trying to control DC motor. This was very fun and produced very nice data and graphs. But those were done after the experiment. I just logged raw data on a file, then process them with a awful python script to build gnuplot graphs. Where is the real-time ? Observing these graphs in real-time is now mandatory. I need to know what's going on this bot !




Yes, I now need to build a GUI, and it really pisses me off :) The simple idea I could write

 application.addMenuItem("File","New") 

really gets me sick. It's so much waste of time in my opinion. I just don't want to design a GUI, selecting the appropriate layout, putting some code for buttons here and there. Maybe I'd need a graphical GUI builder. But when it comes to deal with real-time graphs, I'll need to implement a sort-of canvas, and draw points on it, and... I just don't want to spend my time on this, I just want to see my data coming from my PIC. In real-time. And I'd like it flexible, with a lot of widgets, like gauges, sliders, knobs, etc...

I first tried and thought to have a solution with Flex. Interestingly enough, Flex can be used to build GUI with real-time data. It's quite fun to use, compiler is open-source, documentation is awesome. Lots of widgets are available, for free, like Fusion Charts. And it's cross-platform since it's all about Flash. I prototyped and even wrote a Flash gateway to spread message from the SirBot's core, over a Flash XMLSocket. Worked great, nice performance. Then I tried to add some colors and... you have to sub-class, add callbacks for whatever I don't know, etc... I may have missed something, but it looks too complicated for just what I want to do. And most importantly, I'll need to design a layout, add a menu, add a button here, write the code so when to button here is pressed, then it switch on this pane. I just don't have time !

So, how can I do this ? How can I build a rich GUI, with real-time widgets, easy and fast to implement ? Which tool(s) to use ? Is there a tool which can do this ?

Though I've never tried it, Labview seems to be a solution, but it's way, way too much expensive, and there's no free-of-charge edition for the "cheap guy"... Looks like I need a Labview alternative. During this "quest", I've found many interesting projects. What can be surprising is most of the time, this is about sounds, videos and artistic related projects.

Eyesweb

I first found Eyesweb through BioMobius, which integrates it, adds blocks dedicated to the biomedical field (and also provides an awful GUI builder...). Eyesweb is free, works on Windows. It looks very powerful, and seems to be a real Labview-alternative. Its first purpose was about to deal with audio and video, in real-time, with motion-capture, for artistic projects. I can remember having read it was used on a opera, to produce nice visual effects according to what's going on the scene.

I tried to prototype things, and the cost to enter is quite high (but this is what I expect for these type of tools). I tried to connect it to my SirBot's core, via a NetReceiver, but it just crashes. This really is a nice tool, I'd need to spend more time on it, if others don't do the trick. And the motion capture can be interesting when I add a camera to my bot...

Pure Data

Pure Data is an old project. I've seen many incredible videos on youtube about it. Though it has a visual environment, it's more like classical "type" programming: you have to know objects' name, and what you can do with them. Runs under Linux.

I did not give a try with this one, but it looks very powerful and fast. It may be too much audio-oriented.

MAX/MSP

Max/MSP is derived from Pure Data. Lots of nice widgets. Runs under Mac and Windows. Not Linux.

OSC

Open Sound Control. Not a GUI toolkit nor a tool by itself, but a specification: "Open Sound Control (OSC) is a protocol for communication among computers, sound synthesizers, and other multimedia devices that is optimized for modern networking technology." Many, many tools I've found, included those listed here (and particularly Eyesweb), can use OSC as input. OSC is used in many areas other than sounds. I think I'll need to implement a OSC output in SirBot's core.


Other fun tools...

Fluxus

From their site: "Fluxus reads live audio, midi or OSC network messages which can be used as a source of animation data for realtime performances or installations. Keyboard or mouse input can also be read for games development, and a physics engine is included for realtime simulations of rigid body dynamics." Looks fun ! While not directly usable for what I want (and from what I understand), it may be interesting to keep this in mind. For instance, it could be used to "just" produce a visual... stuff which globally represents the bot's state. No "scientific" graphs, or the like. Just... visual stuff. Fluxus can be programmed in live (see this video for more). No GUI, no visual programming.

SuperCollider

SuperCollider seems very similar to Fluxus. Live coding, no GUI, just type and to see/listen to the results. See this video, scratching with a WiiMote :)


There are many other tools, libraries out there, (Quartz Composer, vvvv, CSound, ...) to deal with real-time data, lots of artistic projects I just discover (and started to discover with Arduino), and look very, very fun :)

So, which to choose ?

I don't know yet, but EyesWeb probably fits my needs the best. Others are of interest too, but maybe not right now. I have to spend more time on EyesWeb, and build a real prototype for validation, probably based on a OSC server/gateway.

Having recently tested a lot this method, I've finally determine my "easy and cheap" way to build PCB using toner transfer method. I tried a lot of things, different papers. I've also tested the professional photoengraving  method, this one can be considered for the most accurate (but certainly not the cheapest).

So, what's the recipe ? This is closed to the last one, but now way faster, since only ~ 10 minutes are needed. Main difference is you don't have to be careful while peel off the paper, toner really sticks firmly, there's no risk damaging the tracks.

• I use glossy photo paper for laser printer (135g/m²)

• wash your PCB board with soap, then with window cleaner (or detergent with alcohol).
• sandpaper your board with ultra thin paper (600, one used for body car)
• wash again the board with soap, then with window cleaner. It must absolutely be dry.
  
• preheat the board,
  
• place the paper on the board. Be careful, it'll instantly stick to the board.
• iron the paper., first smoothly to help paper to sitck firmly, then with a lot of pressure (~1min)
  
• continue with the iron tip, and redraw all the circuit (black tracks will appear through the paper), for ~4/5min.
• Ironing time: ~4/5min
• then place the board on hot water, no soap. Wait for ~ 3/4 minutes, watching the paper beeing soaked. 
• peel-off the paper. Most can easily be removed, only the last layer, where the toner sticks, will mostly remain on the board.
• peel-off again the paper with a toothbrush.  Don't hesitate, it won't damage your PCB.
• once done, dry the board. Check if you've missed some paper.
• clean the board with window cleaner. While it won't remove toner, it'll help to remove paper residue and get an accurate board.
• you're done. You'll then need to etch the board. Once done, remove the toner using acetone (nail polish remover works well)

This video shows the whole recipe:




Now, as a conclusion, here's a comparison of different PCB creation techniques:

	Photoengraving	Toner transfer with transparency	Toner transfer with photo inkjet paper	Toner transfer with photo laser paper
Ease
Repeatable
Accuracy
Fast
Cheap
Total

• a new version of the mainboard: with an integrated i2c bus, better design
• a DC motor controller board: can be drive existing h-bridges, such as those found in RC toys. Extremely configurable and extensible, highly documented.

Jal slave i2c master (declared slave address)	Hardware i2c slave address
0x2E = 0b00101110	0x5C = 0b1011100

• I use glossy photo paper for laser printer (135g/m²)

• wash your PCB board with soap, then with window cleaner (or detergent with alcohol).
• sandpaper your board with ultra thin paper (600, one used for body car)
• wash again the board with soap, then with window cleaner. It must absolutely be dry.
  
• preheat the board, with your iron (max temperature, mine doesn't heat a lot)
  
• place the paper on the board. Be careful, it'll instantly stick to the board.
• iron the paper. Apply a lot of pressure, all over the board, for ~15min (yes a long time, but it may depend on your iron)
• continue with the iron tip, and redraw all the circuit (black tracks will appear through the paper), for ~5min.
• Ironing time: ~20min
• then place the board on hot water, no soap. Soak it for 30min.
• peel-off the paper. Most can easily be removed, only the last layer, where the toner sticks, will mostly remain on the board.
• soak it again for 1h
• peel-off again the paper. You may need to remove very small portion of paper, between the tracks. Leave the paper on  the tracks, it won't bother while etching since tracks remain accurate. This can be time-consuming, but be precise. Also don't be paranoid, the toner really stick well to the board and won't be removed easily
• once done, dry the board. Check if you've missed some paper.
• clean the board with window cleaner. While it won't remove toner, it'll help to remove paper residue and get an accurate board.
• you're done. You'll then need to etch the board. Once done, remove the toner using acetone (nail polish remover works well)

Here's some pictures:

Once all paper has been peeled-off, here's the global result: tracks are still covered with paper, but the whole seems accurate.	Zooming shows tracks are perfectly accurate, even holes in pads. Text is too fuzzy won't be rendered well if left as is. Using window cleaner can help removing extra paper residue.
Paper on tracks is clearly visible here. Important is the way limit between tracks and copper is clean, accurate.	After etching, here the result. Everything looks nice. There are two pen traces which I've added. The big trace on top of the board isn't consistent at all. Using a PCB pen is definitively not reliable...
Once cleaned... Great...	Even text is readable :)