tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-299807192024-03-13T10:49:07.174+00:00stuphiMindless Ramblingsstuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-47373800957225349142015-10-05T09:25:00.002+01:002015-10-05T09:32:23.507+01:00Gear profile generatorHaving been inspired by the gear generator found at <a href="http://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/">woodgears.ca</a> I decided to have a go at doing this myself.<br />
<br />
Some time ago, I had tried to do this in Java as a learning exercise. I only got so far and gave up before I managed to generate any <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Involute">involute</a> curves required for the tooth profile. Trying to learn Java and the math required at the same time was probably too much and it got put aside.<br />
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Recently I had a look at the <a href="https://golang.org/">Go</a> programming language. Then <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Matthiaswandel">Matthias Wandel</a> produced the page mentioned above, and I decided to have another crack at drawing gears.<br />
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The results so far can be seen on <a href="https://github.com/stuphi/GearGen">Github</a>, and an example is shown here.<br />
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<a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stuphi/GearGen/master/Example.pdf"><img alt="Gear Profile Example Image" border="0" height="315" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stuphi/GearGen/master/Example.png" title="Gear Profile Example" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
What I have learnt</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Math makes my head hurt.</li>
<li>The Go programming language fits the way my brain works better than most other languages. I much prefer it to Java, and will try and see if I can tackle other problems with it, just for fun.</li>
</ul>
</div>
stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-10931720264010862392015-04-11T17:31:00.001+01:002015-04-11T17:31:53.056+01:00DIY USB OTG Cable<div dir="ltr">
Suddenly decided that I needed a USB OTG cable. Rather than wait for one in the post, i decided to make one from spare cables found in my box of bits.</div>
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Initially I thought that it would be a simple case of just cutting the cables and reconnecting a USB connector from a phone lead to a female USB socket. Unfortunately that is not the case.</div>
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The USB cable has four wires, but the micro USB plug has five contacts. The unused contact needs to connected to ground to make the OTG cable. The plug on the cable I used does not have a connection for the extra pin, so I needed to rip it apart and blob a lump of solder on two pins. The body of the plug has a wall between each pin, so I rammed a small screwdriver in there to allow the soldered pins to fit.</div>
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I then reassembled the plug, and continued with the connecting the wires together. This was an easy case of , red to red, black to black, green to green and white to white. A piece of heat shrink covers the mess.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
Now to use it. It allows me to plug a keyboard into my Nexus tablet. If I plug a mouse in, a pointer pops up. All of a sudden using the tablet feels like using a real computer. I am typing this with a keyboard on my lap down the garden with my tablet.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
The real motivation for the cable was to allow me to use my phone to adjust the settings on my MultiWii based control board of my Quadcopter. For that, it seems even better than MultiWiiConf, and certainly a lot more convenient when out flying.</div>
stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-44123918811293010812015-01-29T16:28:00.000+00:002015-01-29T16:28:17.605+00:00Arduino and NRF24L01 for Quad-copter buildAs part of my Quadcopter build, I am using a couple of <a href="http://www.arduino.cc/" target="_blank">Arduino's</a> along with some cheap <a href="http://www.banggood.com/NRF24L01+-2_4GHz-Antenna-Wireless-Transceiver-Module-For-MCU-p-87625.html" target="_blank">NRF24L01</a> from <a href="http://www.banggood.com/" target="_blank">Banggood</a> for the radio transmitter and reciever. The idea came from watching the YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzidsatoEzeieT03YQ6-LpO0bR1yfEZpx" target="_blank">iforce2d</a>.<br />
<br />
When I started developing (copying) the code for the NRF modules, I did a quick search for the required library. For no good reason, I opted for the <a href="http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/RadioHead/index.html" target="_blank">RadioHead</a> version. Part of my thinking was by using a different library from iforce2d, I would have to poke around in the code a bit more and lean something.<br />
<br />
All went well with the initial trials. I managed to get the two modules talking to each other, and even had a simple<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv7H8DHoH9E" target="_blank"> processing script show</a> the stick outputs by reading from the serial port of the receiver.<br />
<br />
Things did not look so good when I plugged the flight controller in. For that I am using an <a href="http://abusemark.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=45" target="_blank">Afro Mini32</a>. With that connected to the computer and <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/baseflight-configurator/mppkgnedeapfejgfimkdoninnofofigk" target="_blank">Baseflight</a> running, the receiver tab showed a lot of fluctuations on the control signals.<br />
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Lots of poking , thinking, and even taking it into work to connect to an oscilloscope, it looked like the radio was mucking up with the timing of the PWM signal for the flight controller. Finally, I decided to give an alternative NRF library a try, and from the <a href="http://playground.arduino.cc/InterfacingWithHardware/Nrf24L01" target="_blank">Arduino playground</a> site, I selected <a href="https://github.com/tmrh20/RF24" target="_blank">this one</a>. As per iforce2d, I think.<br />
<br />
Well that fixed it. Although, at the same time I cleaned up my code and pulled lots debugging stuff out and changed one if loop to a while loop, so there is a chance that changing the Library was not the answer. Anyhow, it works well now. Just need some more bits to turn up and I can start on the actual copter!stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-11214669715876697512015-01-19T10:37:00.001+00:002015-01-19T10:37:33.022+00:00Quad-copter Build Log - Part 2<h2>
Working Transmitter</h2>
<div>
After a bit of fiddling, the transmitter works. I have not tested it for range, other than making sure it works across the length of the house. At the moment it only has the standard NRF24L01 module. Although the high-power module has turned up, the antenna for it is still in transit.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As there is still no Quad copter to control, most of the testing has been done by watching numbers scroll up the screen from reading the serial output from the receiver. As this was getting painful, a simple processing script was written to display the control positions on the screen. </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kv7H8DHoH9E?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Almost as soon as I started this, I wondered if it would be possible to get the processing script to pass the stick controls onto a flight simulator. A quick look at <a href="http://www.flightgear.org/" target="_blank">FlightGear</a> turned into a quick flight around L.A. That is a project for another day.</div>
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<h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Flight Control Board</h2>
<div>
A flight control board has been ordered. I decided on the <a href="http://abusemark.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=45&zenid=j5lamego2sp72oqsej5dnnf5o6" target="_blank">AfroMini32</a>. This has the usual accelerometers, gyroscopes and a barometer. It also uses a 32 bit micro controller so should be a capable piece of kit. Hopefully it will all come together by the summer.</div>
stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-48151239827470777892015-01-05T21:06:00.001+00:002015-01-05T21:06:46.599+00:00Quad-copter Build LogHaving enjoyed watching a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzidsatoEzeieT03YQ6-LpO0bR1yfEZpx">series of videos</a> on YouTube, I have been inspired to have a go at building a quad copter. I hope to include here some notes that will act as a reminder for myself. If anybody else decides to try this, please don't rely on this information alone, but please do your research.
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<h2>
Radio</h2>
<div>
This seems like a good place to start. If this bit can't be made to work, then nothing has been wasted on motors, batteries ESC's etc.</div>
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Rather than build an entire transmitter, an old DigiFleet transmitter will be gutted and used for the housing, control sticks, knobs and switches. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dTAEmA7yJN4/VKiKMLRbOnI/AAAAAAAAMY8/pdCxCa9ooQo/s1600/2014-12-23%2B16.00.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dTAEmA7yJN4/VKiKMLRbOnI/AAAAAAAAMY8/pdCxCa9ooQo/s1600/2014-12-23%2B16.00.31.jpg" height="236" title="DigiFleet Radio Transmitter" width="320" /></a></div>
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I had been hanging onto this transmitter, thinking that I would use it someday, but in the meantime, the NiCAD cells had spilt their guts and pretty much wrecked the circuit boards inside. So nothing was lost by tossing out the control boards, to make space for an <a href="http://arduino.cc/" target="_blank">Arduino</a>. At the same time, all the parts were removed to give everything a good clean.</div>
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<div>
Some parts were ordered from <a href="http://banggood.com/" target="_blank">Banggood</a> to get started on the radio. An Arduino Pro Mini to use as the reciever, and Arduino Leonardo for the transmitter, and a couple of NRF24L01 boards for the 2.4GHz radio link.<br />
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<h3>
Connecting Arduino to NRF24L01 Boards</h3>
</div>
<div>
After receiving the Arduino boards, the first thing was to load new Blink programs. This confirmed that they worked, and I could program them. The only issue was for some reason the Leonardo will only work as root. When it cam to connecting the the NRF modules to the Arduino, it was again the Leonardo that was proved to be more challenging. In addition to the power lines, the NRF's require five extra connections. Three of those connections are not available on the standard header, but are available on the ICSP header. As the remaining two connections can be assigned to any digital pin, it is possible to have all of the Leornardo's 12 analogue input pins free to use. This would make it possible to connect up all the controls on the radio, if needed.<br />
<br />
The diagram below shows how the NRF boards were connected for initial testing.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sap3JPBRsCo/VKr28QR7EMI/AAAAAAAAMaE/kV318UhxCYE/s1600/Transmitter_bb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sap3JPBRsCo/VKr28QR7EMI/AAAAAAAAMaE/kV318UhxCYE/s1600/Transmitter_bb.png" height="620" width="640" /></a></div>
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With this set-up, it has been possible to communicate between the boards from different locations in the house.<br />
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<h3>
Software</h3>
</div>
<div>
The YouTube videos that started this mentioned a specific library for the RF modules. For no good reason, for this test, the <a href="http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/RadioHead/index.html" target="_blank">Radio Head</a> library has been used.</div>
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<br /></div>
<h3>
Learnt so far</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Getting the radios to work was easy.</li>
<li>The Leonardo is not quite as simple to use as the pro-mini. Mainly due to the build in USB has to be handled by the Arduino software in a different way.</li>
<li>Choosing the Leonardo for the transmitter will allow me to use all 12 analogue inputs.</li>
<li>Just because a NRF24L01 board has a plug for an aerial does not mean that it is the high power version!</li>
</ul>
</div>
stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-44737508206038432902013-11-08T12:43:00.000+00:002013-11-08T12:43:57.129+00:00Android speculation<p>This is just some idle speculation on my part, and should not be considered as having any authority whatsoever.</p>
<h2>Android to support alternative to Java</h2>
<p>For some time, I have thought it must sit a little awkward with Google having Java so firmly entrenched in Android. Of course Google bought Android, so the original decision to use Java was not theirs, but have they considered moving away from it?</p>
<p>That would be a huge task. A number of things would need to be put in place before that could be considered. The development tools would have to be able to use the new language, and the runtime engine will have to be flexible enough to use the ne language as well as support the existing Java written apps.</p>
<p>Google have recently previewed a new IDE called <a href="http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio.html">Android Studio</a>. Would this be better suited to supporting different languages?</p>
<p>With the recent introduction of Android 4.4, there is now the option to use an alternative runtime to Dalvik. <a href="https://source.android.com/devices/tech/dalvik/art.html">ART</a>. It would make sense to me that this would be an ideal opportunity to include the possibility of having an alternative programming language to Java.</p>
<p>As I said before, this is just speculation, but I really do wonder if by the time Android 5.0 comes out, will we be able to use something other than Java to write applications for android phones SDK? I know that is possible now with the NDK but that does not count!</p>stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-66200151020905577102013-10-19T12:39:00.001+01:002013-10-19T12:39:53.918+01:00PDF editing and PS hacking<p>I have a PDF book that is a good reference. It would be great to be able to have it available on my tablet computer, but the PDF reader apps that have been tried are rubbish at navigating. Being a reference book, it is often required to skip to a specific chapter. This is slow when the PDF does not contain a sensible linked index. The only index it does have is in alphabetical order!</p>
<p>
My initial thought was to use something like <a href="http://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/" target="_blank">pdftk</a> to split the book into separate files for each chapter. Having these in a folder, and using a file manager to select the required chapter as needed. This would work, but seems untidy. A better solution was required.</p>
<p>
What I really wanted was to change the original PDF as little as possible. So I decided to add a single page to the start of the file with a linked list of the chapters. To do this required a little <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/postscript/" target="_blank">PostScript</a>.</p>
<h2>The Index</h2>
<p>
Create a file called, say, <code>index.ps</code>. And in the file add some PostScript commands to create the index. First we can set a title. The word "Index" is placed near the top of a 4.5 x 6.5 inch page.</p>
<blockquote><pre>/Times-BoldItalic findfont 20 scalefont setfont
100 430 moveto (Index) show</pre></blockquote>
<p>Next the text for the chapters needs to be added.</p>
<blockquote><pre>/Helvetica findfont 12 scalefont setfont
20 400 moveto (Chapter 1) show
20 380 moveto (Chapter 2) show
...
</pre></blockquote>
<p>The first line sets the font size, and then the next lines position and set the text. This is repeated as much as required.</p>
<p>Now we need to make the text clickable. This was done using <a href="http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/pdfmark_reference.pdf" target="_blank">pdfmarks</a>.
<blockquote><pre>
[/Page 4 /View [/XYZ null null null] /Rect [8 393 52 413] /Subtype /Link /ANN pdfmark
[/Page 5 /View [/XYZ null null null] /Rect [8 373 52 393] /Subtype /Link /ANN pdfmark
...
showpage
</pre></blockquote>
<p>The coordinates for each rectangle needs to align with the relevant text above, and the page number adjusted to point to the correct page in the PDF document for that chapter. This part was a bit long winded, and I am sure could have been made better with some more fancy PostScript tricks, but at least this works.</p>
<h2>Combine</h2>
<p>The Index was intended to go at the front of the PDF file so that it was the first page seen when the document is opened. If this was placed there directly, I would have to adjust the page numbers above by one to account for the extra page taken by the index itself. This would work, but caused an issue with the existing index in the PDF. This would also then be out by one page. So it was decided to put the index as the last page in the PDF. This way it would still be easy to find without disturbing the rest of the document.</p>
<p>The code to combine my new index with the existing PDF looks like this:</p>
<blockquote><pre>
gs -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE \
-sDEVICE=pdfwrite \
-dDEVICEWIDTHPOINTS=324 \
-dDEVICEHEIGHTPOINTS=468 \
-dAutoRotatePages=/None \
-sOutputFile=temp.pdf \
MyBook.pdf -f index.ps
</pre></blockquote>
<p>This adds the Index to the back of the PDF MyBook, and puts the result into temp.pdf.</p>
<p>The final stage was discovered by accident. I found that if I used pdftk to manipulate the book, it would update the internal links to keep them pointing to the correct page. So I could use pdftk to move the index to the front of my PDF as I first intended, and also, the existing index would also still point to the correct pages and not be shifted by one due to my added page.</p>
<p>The command I used with pdftk is as follows:</p>
<blockquote><pre>
pdftk A=temp.pdf cat A228 A1-227 \
output MyBook_Index.pdf
</pre></blockquote>
<p>I now have a quick index card at the front of my PDF book that can be used to navigate to the required chapter.</p>stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-89515173407082242822013-05-11T21:33:00.000+01:002013-07-04T12:23:19.223+01:00Tracing buildings from OS OpenData Street View for Openstreetmap<p>First, it needs to be said. Automatic tracing and dumping data into Openstreetmap is not a good idea. This page is something I have been playing with as an aid to manual edits.</p>
<p>This is a simple summary of the steps I used. If you need more information, then you probably should not be doing this.</p>
<p><dl><dt>Source Data</dt><dd>Grab some data for the area of interest from <a href="http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/products/os-streetview/index.html">Ordnance Survey</a>.</dd>
<dt>The Gimp</dt><dd>Find the tile required and open in <a href="http://www.gimp.org/">The Gimp</a>. The following steps should isolate the buildings.
<ul>
<li>Select by colour, threshold set to 26, pick the centre of a building, avoiding the antialiased edges.
<li>Sharpen selection.
<li>Fill whole selection with black
<li>Invert Selection
<li>Fill whole selection with white.
<li>Save image in bmp format.
</ul></dd>
<dt><a href="http://potrace.sourceforge.net/">Potrace</a></dt><dd>Make sure that you have the latest potrace that does geojson. With the required tif image from the OS data, run to following command: <br /><code>potrace -b geojson -L XXXXXX -B YYYYYY -O 1 -a 0 tile.bmp</code><br />
Replace XXXXXX and YYYYYY with the appropriate offsets for the tile being worked on. The required data is in the package downloaded from OS.</dd>
<dt><a href="http://www.qgis.org/">Quantum GIS</a></dt><dd><ul>
<li>Create a new project with CRS OSGB 1936 / British National Grid. EPSG:27700.
<li>Load a new vector layer, select the json file from potrace and make sure the CRS is as above. Make sure that the scale is making sense. It would be possible to load another layer of known good data as a check. Be sure to allow on the fly CRS transforms if the data you check against is not OSGB 1936.
<li>Save the layer as a shapefile. Use the same CRS as the layer for the shapefile.
</ul>
</dd>
<dt><a href="http://josm.openstreetmap.de/">JOSM</a></dt><dd>The shapefile can now be loaded into JOSM. The polygons should line up well with the OS OpenData StreetView background images. However, there will still be a lot of manual cleaning up required. Extra nodes need to be deleted and squaring up done.</dd>
</dl></p>
<p>I am not sure if this actually makes much improvement over simply clicking over the background imagery by hand. Maybe someone else can improve this process a bit more. This is really written as a reminder to myself incase I come back to this later.</p>
<p>All this is done with free software. The initial idea came from <a href="http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:TomChance/VectorisingStreetView">the openstreetmap wiki</a>. There is also a python program that can do this called <a href="http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapseg">Mapseg</a>, but it is not very fast on my little computer.stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-8182012538584503452013-02-21T23:29:00.000+00:002013-02-21T23:29:59.337+00:00Ubuntu Touch pre-Alpha on Nexus 10<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HzS32ZSddcs/USajQunRpGI/AAAAAAAAFko/zpPMF6dR4Bc/s1600/IMG_20130221_194312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HzS32ZSddcs/USajQunRpGI/AAAAAAAAFko/zpPMF6dR4Bc/s320/IMG_20130221_194312.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Boot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p>
Curiosity got the better of me. Having seen a few YouTube demos of the new <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/Install" target="_blank">Ubuntu touch</a> interface on the phone, I was excited to learn that the developer preview was going to be released for the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_10_16gb" target="_blank">Nexus 10</a>. Not that I am a developer though.</p>
<p>
First thing I needed to do was decide that there was nothing on my tablet that I needed. Once I was happy about that, I went ahead and followed the instructions. The only problem I had was after unlocking the boot-loader the tablet would not boot up. It was stuck at the boot animation. As I needed to be in Android to complete the next step, I had to reinstall Android first.</p>
<p>
After that little hiccup, it all went fine. Then I was presented with the image above.</p>
<p>
There is still allot that does not work. Most of what does work, works well. There are many rough edges, and a few little quirks that no doubt will be adjusted over the next few months. The one thing that did strike me was the lack of a back button. That was probably the most unintuitive aspect to the interface.</p>
<p>
It seemed that allot of what was working were internet apps. Gmail, Maps, Twitter, Facebook etc. And they all thought they were running on an iPad.</p>
<p>
So far it seems like a good effort. Not sure I fully grasp the point though. It seems to be trying to do what Android does, but differently. What I was hoping for was something more like the Ubuntu Desktop. For that I would need at least a terminal, ssh, vim, LaTeX, apt-get etc. If proper user access control is implemented, that could be a real advantage.</p>
<p>
In the meantime, I will be running Android on my tablet, as I only have the one. It would be nice to have a spare that I could keep on Ubuntu so that the development can be tracked. In a few months time, it may be worth trying again.</p>
<p>
It is going to be interesting to see where this goes.</p>
stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-42142213492697671272012-10-29T12:18:00.000+00:002012-10-29T12:19:13.215+00:00Openstreetmap Zoom<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Vfj2DsxQb9k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>I have played around with this <a href="http://stuphi.co.uk/wordpress/2009/11/03/mapnik-fun/">before</a>. Having recently set up <a href="http://mapnik.org/">Mapnik</a> again to render <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/">Openstreetmap</a> data. Currently it is using the standard Openstreetmap osm.xml file so should look like the mad used on the main website.</p>
<p>This animation is created by rendering each frame with Mapnik. The script is based on a hack of the standard generate_image.py script that comes with Mapnik. It simply loops, and for each loop a new bounds is calculated to provide the zoom effect. </p>
<p>A seperate script is used that adds the watermarks in the bottom corners of each frame. This was done with the help of <a href="http://www.imagemagick.org/">ImageMagick</a>. Finally, <a href="http://libav.org/avconv.html">avconv</a> was used to convert the frames into an mp4 file.</p>
<p>The next step is to make an animation based on a GPX file. That will take a GPX file as input and provide a zooming animation that shows the start, and an overview of the whole GPX track.<p>stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-85882082522416117472012-10-10T19:31:00.000+01:002012-10-19T21:54:27.239+01:00Garmin Vista HCx<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oJrw_6FEvdU/UHVXBJoQVdI/AAAAAAAAE7E/mnX4RK2xsjM/s1600/etrex-vista-hcx-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="169" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oJrw_6FEvdU/UHVXBJoQVdI/AAAAAAAAE7E/mnX4RK2xsjM/s320/etrex-vista-hcx-002.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Some time ago, I purchased a <a href="https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8703">Garmin etrex Vista HCx</a>. Certainly not the most sophisticated GPS system available, but still good fun. It works well in the car, the pocket and on the bike. The only real downside was that the maps that come with it are fairly limited, and it would work out expensive to purchase all the maps I may want to use with it.</p>
<p>That said, it still works very well for recording tracks. When I first had the device, <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/">Openstreetmap</a> was still fairly incomplete in my area, so it was good fun uploading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_eXchange_Format">GPX</a> traces to help add detail to the map.</p>
<p>Eventually, I found out how to create a map from the Openstreetmap data that can be loaded into the Garmin etrex Vista HCX device. It requires a number of steps, but these are easy in Linux.</p>
<h2>Grab the data</h2>
<p>The data that is used to build the Openstreetmap map is freely available. There are a number sources for the data, but it would not be normal to want the entire world database. The people at <a href="http://www.geofabrik.de/">Geofabrik</a> provide a usefull service where they maintain a selection of extracts. Please remember this is provided as a service, so be kind to their servers. The extract I get is the one for Great Britain.</p>
<code>wget http://download.geofabrik.de/openstreetmap/europe/great_britain.osm.pbf</code>
<h2>Get the tools</h2>
<p> A number of tools are required to process the data to make it useful for the Garmin. Following is a list of tools that I have found work for me.</p>
<p>
<dl>
<dt><a href="http://www.mkgmap.org.uk/page/tile-splitter">Splitter</a>
<dd>Used to split the map into manageable pieces.
<dt><a href="http://www.mkgmap.org.uk/">Mkgmap</a>
<dd>Converts the OSM data into format suitable for Garmin device
</dl></p>
<h2>Use the tools</h2>
<p>These tools can be used as follows. This is not a definitive guide. Best refer to the relevant sites for the tools, but this is how I am using the commands.</p>
<h3>splitter</h3>
<code><pre>java -Xmx1536m -jar splitter.jar \
--max-nodes=1000000 \
--mapid=63240001 \
great_britain.osm.pbf</pre></code>
<p>This will generate a series of files from the input. </p>
<h3>mkgmap</h3>
<code><pre>CMD="java -Xmx1024m -jar mkgmap.jar \
--route --remove-short-arcs \
--add-pois-to-areas --index \
--location-autofill=bounds \
--generate-sea"
for f in 6324*.osm.pbf
do
echo $f
$CMD $f
done</pre></code>
<p>After this is run, we should have a number of <code>.img</code> files. At this point, it may be possible to use these tiles with the Garmin map tool for the PC. But why bother. Let us just bundle these all up into one large file.</p>
<code><pre>java -Xmx1024m -jar mkgmap.jar \
--gmapsupp --family-id=50 --product-id=1 63*.img</pre></code>
<p>This should result in a single map file named <code>gmapsupp.img</code>. All we need to do now is copy this to the <code>Garmin</code> directory on the SD card used by the Etrex Vista HCx.
<h2>Results</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KoXzz3_c8ug/UHW4nWkVL-I/AAAAAAAAE7Y/QgbFMA0YT-4/s1600/Garmin001.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="220" width="176" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KoXzz3_c8ug/UHW4nWkVL-I/AAAAAAAAE7Y/QgbFMA0YT-4/s320/Garmin001.png" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOnagkhHjf0/UHW4tg8SMgI/AAAAAAAAE7k/CUmbAeIY4MI/s1600/Garmin002.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="220" width="176" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOnagkhHjf0/UHW4tg8SMgI/AAAAAAAAE7k/CUmbAeIY4MI/s320/Garmin002.png" /></a></div>
stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-1522049971428240572012-08-09T15:29:00.000+01:002012-08-09T15:44:23.225+01:00Windows 7 use NTP when in domain<p>Having recently had to reload windows, one of the little things to irritate me was the clock being wrong. It would seem logical that any computer with a reliable web connection should have the correct time. Well the default situation for Windows 7, when in a domain is to not allow the user to select a <a href="http://www.ntp.org/" target="_blank">NTP</a> server to sync with. Sensibly, it will sync with the domain controller.</p>
<p>Unfortunately our domain controller does not have the correct time. So my clock was wrong, and there was no 'point and click' way to fix it.</p>
<p>After some searching around a solution was found.</p>
<p>
<ul>
<li>Click 'Start' and type cmd in the search box</li>
<li>Right click cmd.exe in the results, and select 'Run as administrator'</li>
<li>At the command prompt, run the following:</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p><pre>
<code>
c:\>w32tm /config /update /manualpeerlist:"uk.pool.ntp.org" /syncfromflags:manual
c:\>net stop w32time
c:\>net start w32time
</code>
</pre></p>
<p>It would be good to change the URL in the first command to a suitable pool from <a href="http://www.pool.ntp.org/en/">this list</a> based on your location.stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-63172534153796675292012-08-01T22:50:00.000+01:002012-08-01T22:50:40.479+01:00Windows 8 PreviewThe hard drive failed on my computer. Just went phut! No warning or anything. So that required a new hard disk. With a new blank disk in the machine, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to give <a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/release-preview" target="_blank">Windows 8 preview</a> a spin, before putting the system back.<br />
The install was painless. Probably as it is not released yet, there was not the endless list of updates required with an older version of Windows.<br />
The first impression is it feels a little mixed up. The new Metro interface looks clean and works well, but feels out of place on a desktop machine with a large monitor. If the screen was touch enabled, or it was a tablet, then great, but on a desktop, not so sure. Behind that, there is the more familiar windows interface, but without a Start button. This feels more natural for a desktop, but again, elements from the Metro interface pop up when the mouse hits a corner.<br />
Maybe it still needs some polish, and the final release version will be more coherent. One thing is for sure, it will get noticed. Some are going to love it, but there will be lots of noise from those that hate it.<br />
The big thing that struck me was how it compares with my recent experience with Linux. For some time now I have been using Ubuntu. The Unity interface for Ubuntu at first felt like a simplified interface for small screens. Once familiar with it, it works very well, but in a different way to the sort of desktops we are used to. With Windows 8, it feels like they are hedging their bets, and using two styles of interface.<br />
Whatever the design goal is, and the direction it takes, it does feel like Windows is now following Linux. That was the weirdest thing about my experience of the Windows 8 preview.stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-58094654979549007262012-05-30T23:53:00.001+01:002012-05-31T08:08:49.914+01:00Alternative Window Managers<br />
For sometime I have been using Ubuntu, and been very happy with it. More recently I have started to be less satisfied. Not sure why. Since upgrading to 12.04 things have not been so good. It is probably about time that the machine was installed fresh as that last happened at 10.04.<br />
<br />
Before doing something that drastic, I decided to have a look at some alternative Window Managers. This is what I found.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z1oBnVQ2nPc/T8ag7o2U_AI/AAAAAAAAEn8/XxTNGhYxwB0/s1600/Unity_Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z1oBnVQ2nPc/T8ag7o2U_AI/AAAAAAAAEn8/XxTNGhYxwB0/s800/Unity_Logo.png" /></a></div>
<a name='more'></a><a href="http://unity.ubuntu.com/">Unity</a> is where I was starting from. When logging in, I found that it would take a long time to get to a working desktop. Why? What is it doing? All I want is a window manager and to be able to start some applications. I don't think I really understand why a window manager needs a 3D graphics card. Anyhow, that was my starting point.<br />
<br />
In the past, I have used <a href="https://live.gnome.org/GnomePanel">Gnome Panel</a>. This is another great piece of work. But not sure it is what I want, so we won't go there again for a bit.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YgDdtE5m6fM/T8abd6hXJsI/AAAAAAAAEno/mWiSKdmxSB8/s1600/xmonad.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-YgDdtE5m6fM/T8abd6hXJsI/AAAAAAAAEno/mWiSKdmxSB8/s800/xmonad.png" title="Xmonad" /></a><br />
Reading some notes on the web, I saw a mention of <a href="http://xmonad.org/">Xmonad</a>. A quick Google, and that looked interesting. So I installed it. A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiling_window_manager">tiling Window Manager</a>. This must be the first time I have come across one of these. Being able to have the windows organised for me was great. I like to have my applications running full screen, or tile them so that I can see them all. Having windows overlap is irritating. So to find a Window Manager that does that for me was great.<br />
<br />
The problem came with the configuration. It is all done in <a href="http://www.haskell.org/">Haskell</a>. Not being much of a programmer, and having no experience of using Haskell, that was a pain. I did manage to follow a step-by-step guide, but fell over when I wanted to deviate and add my own customisations.<br />
<br />
That lead me think that there must be other similar Window Managers available. Back to Google, and I found a <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Comparison_of_Tiling_Window_Managers">table</a> comparing alternative Tiling Window Managers on the <a href="http://www.archlinux.org/">Arch Linux</a> website.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mrH3I0XHBXw/T8afuQA-fTI/AAAAAAAAEn0/FiaVE6e3XhQ/s1600/python-logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mrH3I0XHBXw/T8afuQA-fTI/AAAAAAAAEn0/FiaVE6e3XhQ/s144/python-logo.gif" /></a></div>
Looking at this list, and a few pointers from elsewhere on the web, I decided to try <a href="http://qtile.org/">Qtile</a>. This is supposed to be written all in <a href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a>. It should also be easy to configure as the configuration is a <a href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a> script. At least I could read an existing configuration and make enough sense from it to be able to tweak it for me.<br />
<br />
This looked really nice.<br />
<br />
Then it fell apart. The problems I had were:-<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Dialogue boxes would be full screen.</li>
<li>It crashed easily</li>
<li>Flash would not work full screen.</li>
<li>A Java app I use was horrible.</li>
</ul>
<div>
While playing with this I did learn that the main players in the Tiled Window Manger world are Xmonad and Awesome. I had already tried Xmonad, so next up was <a href="http://awesome.naquadah.org/">Awesome</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pP5pbFs8h78/T8aikL6_t2I/AAAAAAAAEoE/-Xttd_oIkTA/s1600/awesome.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pP5pbFs8h78/T8aikL6_t2I/AAAAAAAAEoE/-Xttd_oIkTA/s800/awesome.png" /></a>This is written in C but the configuration is by <a href="http://www.lua.org/">Lua</a> scripts. Not sure that I have come across this language before, but unlike Haskel, I could grasp what the config file was doing so managed to make some simple modifications. That is all I wanted to do.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So far, Awesome has been that. It is still early days, and I need to get a bit more settled with the keyboard short cuts. It seems stable. Programs by default behave in a sensible manner. Dialogue boxes float, and main windows get tiled. In the Ubuntu package, there are three themes provided. I could do with tweaking these a bit, but they will do for now.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One real advantage is there is a menu. It can be helpful to be able select a program from a list on occasion.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, in conclusion, Unity is good, but there may well be something out there that fits my way of using a computer a bit better. If it is also light weight, that is a bonus too.</div>stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-62490406012002267872012-05-20T19:39:00.000+01:002012-05-22T14:24:27.781+01:00New Cycle Bag - Carradice SQR Tour<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/ZbZi94fKCB" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rLw0PTZ0LXk/T7izO4NBqDI/AAAAAAAAEjA/8sJRxQq7JH0/s400/DSC_5818.jpg" width="400" /></a>
<br />
Finally got fed up with using a back pack on the bike. My old bike had panniers, but I did not want to fit them to my current bike, so have been using a back pack. Although it was a good bag, it meant that my back was always hot and, err, sticky!<br />
<br />
So I looked around for an alternative, and this is what I found. It is from a company called <a href="http://www.carradice.co.uk/">Carradice</a>. This model is the <a href="http://www.carradice.co.uk/products/type/sqrtour">SQR Tour</a>. It is of solid construction. It is easy to fit to the bike and can hold sixteen litres of my junk.<br />
<br />
A couple of advantages are that I can put tools and spare tubes in the side pockets so that I don't have to rummage through my clean clothes to find them when required. It also includes a plastic strip to act as a mud guard. Finally, there is a mounting position for the rear light on the bag. Next winter, when I get to work, I will only have to collect the front light from the bike when I lock it up. Small point, but they all add up.<br />
<br />
After one week, I am really happy. Lets hope it holds up!stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-64194824149493920742012-05-10T22:17:00.000+01:002012-05-10T22:17:33.957+01:00Broken Seat Clamp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">
<img alt="Image of broken seat clamp" border="0" height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J5nrkxzE1Yk/T6wrH0AKlzI/AAAAAAAAEeo/ClUnKJ0v_0s/s400/DSC_5782.JPG" title="Broken Seat Clamp" width="400" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
The very first day I rode my bike to work, the seat post was slowly sliding down into the frame. A few weeks back I had to adjust it up again. Some would suggest that the bike is trying to tell me to loose some weight. Again, the seat was too low. </div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
So, this evening, I went out to put it up again ready for the morning. So I tightened it up. Then a bit more, Well then just a bit ... ping!!! Nuts.</div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
What to do? First a quick check of the old bike. That was too small. Next I called my brother to see if he had a spare. Same problem. This bike has a seat tube of 34.9mm. It was getting late, and there was only one thing for it. A quick dash to the local <a href="http://www.halfords.com/">Halfords</a> and I managed to pick up a spare.</div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vKcSTSTPx7I/T6wrKBQqH9I/AAAAAAAAEew/nOH2ncsOP6w/s1600/DSC_5783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image of new seat clamp" border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vKcSTSTPx7I/T6wrKBQqH9I/AAAAAAAAEew/nOH2ncsOP6w/s400/DSC_5783.JPG" title="New Seat Clamp" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
We are back on the road.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-73292428199598732732012-05-08T23:04:00.000+01:002012-05-08T23:04:31.363+01:00Portable Apps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://portableapps.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Portable Apps Logo" border="0" src="http://cdn.portableapps.com/_theme_portable_apps_logo3.png" title="Portable Apps" /></a></div>
While at work I wanted to have access to the applications I am familiar with on Linux available on my Windows machine. For some time, that was achieved by running <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a> in <a href="https://www.virtualbox.org/">VirtualBox</a>.<br />
<br />
This does work great with only the slight issue of getting access to my networked drives.<br />
Thinking I may be over complicating matters, I started to look at the native Windows versions of the programs that were most useful to me from Ubuntu. These were <a href="http://www.gimp.org/">Gimp</a> and <a href="http://inkscape.org/">Inkscape</a>. The CAD package that is the base of most of my work does occasionally fall over. So to help reduce that, it is not ideal to load lots of applications.<br />
<br />
Somewhere along the way I found a nice tidy solution with <a href="http://portableapps.com/">Portable Apps</a>.<br />
These are intended to be loaded onto a USB stick and run without doing a full install. Well there is no reason why they can't also be installed onto the hard drive.<br />
This gives the following benefits:-<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I now have easy access to lots of native applications.</li>
<li>They don't need to be 'installed'.</li>
<li>All updates are from one place.</li>
<li>The latest 2.8 version of Gimp.</li>
</ul>
<div>
The VirtualBox solution will remain, but day-to-day work will be with the Portable Apps.</div>stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980719.post-59280256969883681262012-05-01T12:36:00.001+01:002012-05-01T14:27:01.718+01:00New Blog<span style="font-family: inherit;">OK, this is a first post. I have used <a href="http://wordpress.org/">Wordpress</a> for <a href="http://stuphi.co.uk/wordpress/">my blog</a>, but now I no linger desire to keep my own machine running all the time. So from here on in, I will try and use this blog, hosted by <a href="http://www.google.com/">Google</a>.</span>stuphihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152306993222215939noreply@blogger.com