[Noisebridge-discuss] arduino usb host shield - seeking help or advice for project

[Steve Castellotti]

Hey all--


     I want to be able to shoot fireballs with my mind.


     (...now that I have your attention...)


     I've run into difficulty working on an Arduino project and was 
hoping someone might be able to lend a hand or point me in the right 
direction.

     Long story short, I have a USB dongle which appears as a serial 
device to Linux and I would like to control it from an Arduino (without 
a PC). To this end I have picked up one of these shields from SparkFun 
to make my UNO look snazzy:

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9947


     I have working code and good experience with the hardware (and 
serial devices in general) on the Linux side, and if I could get to the 
point where I can write a single hex packet to the Rx port of this USB 
device and read back the result, I could take everything from there.

     I even have schematics for the USB dongle from the manufacturer and 
a walkthrough from someone who's cut the traces and used a SparkFun 
Level Converter to talk to the hardware directly. I figure the USB Host 
shield is far less invasive and would provide good experience for future 
projects.

     There's a reasonable degree of information about the USB Host 
shield (or at least a compatible model) online:

http://www.circuitsathome.com/usb-host-shield-hardware-manual

http://www.circuitsathome.com/mcu/ps3-and-wiimote-game-controllers-on-the-arduino-host-shield-part-1

https://github.com/felis/USB_Host_Shield

http://www.circuitsathome.com/mcu/arduino/usb-shield/troubleshooting-arduino-usb-host-shield



     Is anyone around either tomorrow (for Circuit Hacking Monday) or 
Tuesday (before/after the meeting) who might have a few minutes to take 
a look? I've started to have a play, reviewing and experimenting with 
the example libraries, but its all a bit of a strain on my (limited) 
electronics knowledge.


     Oh, and the end goal really is to shoot fireballs with the mind. 
But more on that another time... (c:



Cheers

Steve





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