I want to be able to...

[phantasmagoria]

programme and operate servos by using my computer (preferably into a sequence), but I don't really know where to go about getting something that can do this.

I found a PCI card in a Maplin Electronics catalogue that would have been ideal, but unfortunatly it's been discontinued, and now I don't really know where to start. I've checked ebuyer.com and dabs.com with no luck.

I don't really know where to go from here..any ideas?

[Mr.Magnetichead]

You're gonna think I'm joking but I'm not.

http://mindstorms.lego.com/

[R00k]

I've played with the Mindstorms stuff. It's really cool to get started, but it's very limited. It doesn't adhere to any real standards, so you wouldn't be able to make a remote control car with it, or something more abstract - unless you could do it with the lego kit.

[Mr.Magnetichead]

This is the new version of the kit. It's not even out yet. It's much more advanced than the old set.

[phantasmagoria]

Lego is far too limited for what I'm making, which is about a 2m square scale model of something similar to a Messerschmitt 262.

a standard RS-232 serial port

is that joystick port?

[R00k]

It's a serial port - there's one on pretty much every PC in existence. Looks like a monitor port, except male instead of female.

[Mr.Magnetichead]

Lego is far too limited for what I'm making, which is about a 2m square scale model of something similar to a Messerschmitt 262.

Yeah LEGO sure is limiting.

[phantasmagoria]

It's great for exploring concepts and ideas (actually, i prefer meccano for this - it's more versitile and you can make your own pieces much easier with meccano). But for something that's got to withstand the general public playing and prodding it, i'd like to make something abit more sturdy.

[Mr.Magnetichead]

Glue.

[Foo]

If lego is below your requirements, you're going to have to get your hands dirty.

Pic chips
Becca Boards
Flight Boards

google those up and read into them. You're looking at programming simple systems using assembler and transmitting that code into the chips via the serial port on your computer.

You'll need to be able to build a circuit board or just mock up a breadboard circuit, and you'll need some programmable chips as above, and also an RS232 decoder chip to read the serial signals.

You can go more advanced and get a USB chip instead of an RS232 chip, I would guess, but I've never messed with USB protocols.

[phantasmagoria]

Thanks foo, i'll have a look tomorrow if I can't find a ready-made. I like electronics and it's something I always regret not doing at A-level. It'll be a good memory-refreshing oppertunity.

[featurecreep]

http://www.phidgets.com/

I think phidgets (physcial widgets) may be what you're looking for. I've used them for a number of human-computer interaction projects at school and they aren't too hard to set up and are pretty durable. You can program them using VB.net or C#.

[mjrpes]

1. Buy motion detector kit.
2. Create program to show hideous monster on screen and play screaming voice at very loud volume when motion is detected.
3. Set up on roommate's computer
3. Wait till roommate comes home
4. ...
5. Profit?

[4days]

those phidget things look good - or you could cannibalise an existing usb device.

how much are the lego kits? it might be a bit weedy for your end-result, but could be really handy for working things out.

[phantasmagoria]

If anyone's interested, i solved it with this, from Milford Instruments:

The top one:
http://www.milinst.com/animatronics/animsside.htm

£30 and it's a fucking charm. You can program routines for up to 8 servos with real ease using the downloadable software.