Touch Orbiter - a new approach to Touch Based Orbiters

[totallymaxed]

Touch Orbiter is a new approach to creating Orbiters for any device where MD capability is not required. It builds off the recent work we have been doing on Web Orbiter 2.0 in that it uses the proxy_orbiter as its backend but Touch Orbiter does not rely on a Web Browser and is a native Application on the device it is running on. The Wiki will be expanded in the coming days and weeks with information on how to setup Touch Orbiter and also importantly how to take the reference implementation and port it to other device (full source code is now provided)...thats the exciting part as Touch Orbiter allows you to create a Touch orbiter for a new Device without having the overhead and complexity of the Orbiter source code to contend with - if you know a modest amount about the target device and writing software for its OS then you should be able to quickly port Touch Orbiter to it...thats the hope anyway :-)


So please take a look at the Wiki page below (Sourc code is now provided & we provide a full make script to that sets up everything for you and compiles the reference version...just copy that onto your WinCE device and your done pretty much);

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Touch_Orbiter_-_for_the_CUWIN3500_in-wall_Touch_Panel
All the best


Andrew

[RayBe]

hi Andrew,

first up many thanks for such super work, looks amazing,
when i get my core/hybrid up and running (http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=10414.0) i will look into it.
looks stunning!

but the url u posted misses a "L" at the end, therefore it doesn't point to the right site.

All the best
Raymond

[totallymaxed]

hi Andrew,

first up many thanks for such super work, looks amazing,
when i get my core/hybrid up and running (http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=10414.0) i will look into it.
looks stunning!

but the url u posted misses a "L" at the end, therefore it doesn't point to the right site.

All the best
Raymond

Thanks for pointing that out Raymond. Much Appreciated :-)

All the best


Andrew

[RayBe]

No problem, glad to help  

I don't wanna hijack this thread but,
could u give me any pointers for my install problem? (see my post above)

thanks up front

Raymond

[RayBe]

Hi Andrew,

when i read ur approach of Touch Orbiter it made me think about another project i read about on the net:
www.OpenRemote.org
they also have a controler/client setup, however they have a very easy way of designing ur own remote.
maybe this is a feature wich could be implemented in your Touch Orbiter.

just wanted to share the idea

br

Raymond

[totallymaxed]

Hi Andrew,

when i read ur approach of Touch Orbiter it made me think about another project i read about on the net:
www.OpenRemote.org
they also have a controler/client setup, however they have a very easy way of designing ur own remote.
maybe this is a feature wich could be implemented in your Touch Orbiter.

just wanted to share the idea

br

Raymond

OpenRemote is a nice OSS project. In the future there will be a new and much simpler way to design Orbiter UI's - thats in the future however. But Touch Orbiter is not about design or implementing UI's - all it does is display the UI on the device you are using. The beauty of Touch Orbiter is that it moves all of the complex code to the Core where there is plenty of processing power at hand. The device that Touch Orbiter runs on can then be much less complex and lower in cost and at the same time because all of the complexity is left at the Core it makes porting the Touch Orbiter a simple and manageable job that pretty much anyone can achieve.

The reference implementation we have is for the CUWIN-3500 WinCE in-wall touch panel and in the next few days we will update the Wiki with the source code for this version of the Touch Orbiter. The implementation for the CUWIN-3500 is a fully working and functioning Touch Orbiter that you can use on your system as is on your system (if you have the CUWIN hardware). The reference implementation's supplementary purpose however is to help you implement Touch Orbiter on other hardware and provides you with a worked example of how to go about that task.

All the best


Andrew

[RayBe]

oh ok, just tought i would trow in the idea 

i would love to try the Touch Orbiter, but i can't get my sore setup (see my posts above) could u help me out?
tried today another clean install with just the onboard video connected (gt220 still in the machine) but got no picture at all 

much apriciated

br
Raymond

[purps]

Could this kind of thing be ported to S60 5th edition, for those of us with touchscreen phones ie Nokia 5800 (Xpress Music)?

I also saw this old thread http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=8095.15 and wondered if Hari's S60 orbiter software had been recompiled for v5? If so, how do I go about getting it? If not, is this something that an enthusiastic amateur might be able to do?

[Randall]

Slightly OT, but I assume that you'd power this with an in-wall mounted transformer, similar to what is used in a low-voltage lighting or HVAC.

Are there any reasonably priced touch screens running embedded linux?

[totallymaxed]

Slightly OT, but I assume that you'd power this with an in-wall mounted transformer, similar to what is used in a low-voltage lighting or HVAC.

Are there any reasonably priced touch screens running embedded linux?

Yes generally they have a mains transformer external to the unit to power them.

The arrival of the iPad has really placed a fire under many OEM's so there are a ton of new devices at generally very low price points arriving on the market. Just look at the number of Android devices announced in the last few months. There are many devices like the Mini-2440...but just use Google and you will find literally dozens more.

All the best


Andrew

[wierdbeard65]

Anyone come across a device that can use PoE? I have a big PoE switch at home, so this would be the neatest solution for me

[totallymaxed]

Anyone come across a device that can use PoE? I have a big PoE switch at home, so this would be the neatest solution for me

There are a number of companies delivering POE capable in-wall devices like this;

http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=TS-TPC-7395

But I expect in the next few months we will see numerous new touch based devices appear that will be priced at a much lower price point.

Andrew

[totallymaxed]

Could this kind of thing be ported to S60 5th edition, for those of us with touchscreen phones ie Nokia 5800 (Xpress Music)?

I also saw this old thread http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=8095.15 and wondered if Hari's S60 orbiter software had been recompiled for v5? If so, how do I go about getting it? If not, is this something that an enthusiastic amateur might be able to do?

It would certainly be possible to port Touch Orbiter to pretty much any device/OS (including S60 5th edition) that has a touch based screen, Wifi/Mobile connectivity and an SDK - currently Touch Orbiter assumes a touch interface. The advantage of implementing Touch Orbiter is that you leave all of the code complexity in proxy_orbiter running on the Core. The challenge of porting Touch Orbiter is merely that of being able create a simple app that can communicate with a socket on the Core and accept UI inputs from the touch screen ie you just need to understand how to develop simple apps for the Device/OS you have.

So yes this is very much something an enthusiastic amateur could achieve - thats a big part of the motivation behind creating Touch Orbiter...to make it simple for  people without LinuxMCE expertise to get involved in creating software for the project.

We will be releasing the Touch Orbiter source code in the next few days and will make more details available on the Wiki too; http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Touch_Orbiter_-_for_the_CUWIN3500_in-wall_Touch_Panel

All the best


Andrew

[RayBe]

Andrew,

is the follow me bluetooth fuction working with Touch Orbiter or with the new web orbiter?
if not, are you going to implement this feature?

br
Raymond

[tschak909]

Follow Me, as with all standard orbiters, must be manually enabled on an orbiter, and changes when you change the Orbiter's room.

For any sort of automated Follow Me, you'll need some sort of addressable device, which a DCE device can latch onto and fire Follow Me events.

-Thom