Start: 10:00

• Continued working on the control class for the finger modules
• Assembled one of the amplifiers

End: 6:00

Start: 10:00

• Worked on Controller class for the finger
• Determined that when we use a computer based simulation the only thing that needs to be passed is if there is contact and how much force is applied
• Pc side will recieve a string with the status of each finger module
• I think a solution to the problem where you cannot have anything in the constructor on the arduino side can be fixed by wrapping the class in a #ifdef statement

End: 6:00

Start: 10:00

• Continued to work on the higher level control class.  This class is also to monitor a given input pin, as well as receive/run test simulation data for a designated  finger, similar to how the original test sketch works.
• Wired a second 1 Watt amplifier which is controlled by the second rheostat on the first IC
• Added code to the amp class to control the second register

End: 6:00

Start: 10:00

• Finished midi class and start debugging.  This one didn’t have as many problems as the others and was relatively simple to debug.
• Started a higher level module which controls the amp and midi controller so I can initialize both in one instance

End: 6:00

Start: 3:30(had car trouble in the morning)

• Worked on Midi class
• Tested it but it wasn’t working

End: 8:30

Start 12:00

• Amp class now works properly without causing the arduino to freeze
• working on midi class.

End 6:00

Start: 10:00

• Got the simulation working with the midi controller
• Changed the output to show the instrument, note, and simulation position.
• Debugging the amp class so I can use it for a multiple finger simulation

End: 6:00

Start: 10:00

• Experimented with different instruments.  Most hold the note til you tell it to stop but some have set stop timings.
• Experimented with increasing the attack.  More subtle then I hoped.  Will have to use the volume control for the impact effect.
• Added the ability cycle through instruments
• Added the ability to cycle through notes

End: 6:00

Start: 9:40

• My computer was still having an issue this morning.  I think I found the problem.  Asus has an auto driver update which seems to run whenever windows updates and mess up the processor by running too many threads at the same time.  I disabled this and a couple other things and restarted the computer.  Seems to be running good as new again.
• Set up the Arduino mega for testing.installed the drivers found in the IDEs root directory.
• Had to select the firmware type from the list in the IDE.  Selected the old mega first and was getting a sync error whenever i tried to upload a sketch.  I eventually realized there were two versions of the mega
• The mega uses com port 5 instead of 3.
• The mega has its own port for i2c instead of using analog ports 0 and 1 like the uno does.  Still am not sure if you can have multiple i2c channels.  I know the way the Wire.h library works, it is actually hard wired to these ports and cannot be changed or expanded.  I don’t think we will need more then 4 rheostats and we might not need any at all if the midi volume control is sufficient.
• Tried upping the voltage on the 30Watt amp to its upper range as opposed to the lowest functional which is what I usually do.  There was no change in the amplification but the heat sink got hotter.  Decided to just stick with 12 volts.
• Continued incorporating the midi into the simulation.

End: 6:00

Start: 10:20

• Tried to solve the buzzing problem but nothing worked.  Tried changing the wire to a thicker one and various type of capictors to try to filter the signal.  I also tried taking the amp out of the picture by using my headphones instead.  The buzz was still there.  There was some weird black dot on the ground trace that went all the way down to the trace.  The copper seems intact though so I don’t think this is the cause.
• Eventually got on the phone with sparkfun about it.  They said either I messed it up when I hooked it to the amplifier the first time with no decoupling capacitors or the board is defective.  The sales person was leaning towards it being defective since the board was still functional.  He said he had one in the office which they were using for a project that did not make the white noise.
• We can send it back to them or keep it.  The buzz is annoying, but it will slow down development if I don’t have one of these on hand, so its up to you.
• Removed the finger from the vice and found that the sound was actually mostly resonating through my desk.  Putting it directly on the desk made it sound louder then when it was in the vice.
• Saved the current test sketch and started editing it for use with the pressure sensor.
• Writing this I am realizing there are many functions I haven’t experimented with.  First and foremost, I need to make a list of which instruments will best serve our purpose.  Second  I need to see how to make notes hold out.  Third have to play with the attack to see how that effects the sound(how hard the sound starts before going steady).  Third look in the documentation for other things which may not be in the demo code(possibly effects).  I will look into these tomorrow.

End 6:20

Start: 9:45

• Modified the main sandbox to add controls for the midi device and saved it under midiamptest.
• Rewired the arudino so that the midi would work as the sound source.
• I set the 1W amplifier to maximum, to get an idea of how loud it could get and it didn’t seem much louder then it was with a direct connection to the midi device.  Furthermore the buzz was still there.
• I tried to lower the output volume of the midi device to get rid of the buzz.  The buzz stayed at a constant volume while notes were quieter.
• Tried changing capacitors to get rid of the buzz, but it didn’t work.

End: 5:45

Start: 9:45

• The Music instrument shield for Arduino (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10587) came today.
• It uses two digital pins so it should be possible to control multiple midi shields with one arduino.
• The demos for the shield, use the NewSoftSerial library.  This class allows for easy serial communication through any of the digital pins instead of just certain ones.
• Once it was wired, I hooked it up directly to the high watt amplifier.  The signal is a bit weak and I had to turn up the amplifier very high to get an audible sound.  The sound that was produced was very clear.
• Hooking it to the 1W pre-amp should help with the volume issue as well as adding decoupling capcitors between teh amp and the midi board should eliminate the static hum.
• The midi board produces stereo sound.  Since each finger only requires mono it may be possible to control each channel individually and use one board for two fingers.
• Volume control may be better controlled at the midi chip with the pre-amp giving it a steady amplification.  I will have to try it once everything is set up to work with the pre-amp.

End: 6:00

Start: 9:40

• including math.h in the main sketch fixed the mysterious bad call to the round function.
• To make libraries which use the arduino core functions, the WProgram.h has to be included
• If your library uses any of the extended arduino libraries, you have to include them in both sketches
• Slowly fixing run time errors for sound and messaging classes.
• Was reminded that you can not do anything in the constructor of a class on the arduino side.  Instead you have to have a separate init method.

end: 6:00