The only "advantage" of this code for ATSAM4S-XPRO is that can fake be a Warthog for use TARGET soft, but when it appeared was an expensive solution. It does not seem to have many users.
The only "advantage" of this code for ATSAM4S-XPRO is that can fake be a Warthog for use TARGET soft, but when it appeared was an expensive solution. It does not seem to have many users.
Yes that was why I decided not to go that route ... I knew I would need help from Others ( great forum here) , and I thought the Author of Hempstick had also lost interest and was no longer developing it.....
But perhaps since Tazz has programming skills he can modify Hempstick himself if needed ? (source code?) and it seems he only wants to Fly BMS 4.33 too , so maybe that plays into the decision?
Well, that there aren't many users does not really concern me. (As a Saab owner, I'm used to that!).
There are a number of factors that appeal to me in the Hempstick solution. First, it's a ready made solution. The code is finished, it's available and (from what I can see), it actually works. It works so well that you can even turn the FLCS and TQS into a Cougar, as far as Thrustmaster's TARGET software is concerned, and use all the programming features. Which makes perfect sense because the Cougar really isn't that different from the FLCS in architecture and pin layouts.
The idea of using a FLCS and TQS as a full-fledged Cougar setup is just hilarious to me. Can't pass that one up.
And then there is the technical implementation itself. Now both the Arduino and Amtel microcontrollers are programmed in C so that really isn't so different. One uses the Arduino IDE, the other uses Amtel Studio.
The difference lies in the pure capabilities of the board and the available libraries. The Arduino Leonardo uses 16Mhz but, all the USB HID libraries appear to use a single threading poll loop. So the main program runs in an infinite loop and it just keeps checking the axis and button states one by one. Now that maybe fine if you have two axis and 4 buttons.... but think about a FLCS and TQS.... Of course, the loop gets smaller and quicker if you use two Arduino's, one in each. However then you cannot use button modifies on one to determine something on the other. (E.g. Pinky switch and the Dogfight switch).
But still, it's going in circles and circles and the timing is determined by the number of "stops" and the level of complexity in that code - USB bus speed really not being an issue. It also prevents you to do anything fancy in terms of timings of a button. (E.g. Do action 1 but if you hold button longer than 10 ms then do action 2). In a loop like that, there is no reliable tick count unless you start holding timing values. Even then, the loops may not always have the same speed and it just gets very messy.
So how is the Hempstick approach different? The board is a lot more powerful - yes it is expensive but if you go with a real Arduino Pro Micro, the SAM4S-XPRO is perhaps twice as expensive but I am planning to only use one board. Anyway, the SAM4S uses FreeRTOS. A full-fledged Real Time operating system that supports interrupt driven events and full multi threading.
This means that there is no loop to cycle through. It just waits for a button press (an event /interrupt) and then executes the code behind that. When you press a second button, it runs a second process in a separate thread, thus in complete parallel to the other button press. This means you can press ALL buttons at the same time and the microcontroller would never get overwhelmed or laggy. The sheer speed of the SAMS4S makes it also very reactive and much better than the 24 Mhz of the Cougar.. let alone the 16 Mhz of the Arduino.
I thought Hempstick had been discontinued ? (support)
KB
Well, it doesn't seem so - based on what Hempstead posted on his own forum:
Quote
I am working on an all metal RudderCore and a Hall sensor MiniStick prototypes now. I might need a smaller board like the SAM D21 or D11. So, I may port Hempstick to that, but don't count on it as I might just lazy it out with a Due board. But I am planning (and learning) to do FPGA. The next gen Hempstick will be FPGA based. You will notice that Hempstick does not have take output from the host. I plan on doing that with FPGA chips, and Ethernet. So, Hempstick will stay on doing low end, fast response simple no-output controllers. And the FPGA-based will do the higher end control, communicating two-way with the flight sim on the host.
Looks like he's still planning on developing the Hempstick further for his own purposes. So it's definitely not dead, as long as you take into account that he makes all this for his own use and is very open about sharing it. But there is no such thing as "support" really. Having said that, he outlined the Cougar conversion project in a detailed document so really, it should all be there for you to use.
plus a number of scattered comments posted in other threads, at that point I think there was 55 posts on the whole Forum and there hadn't been a post in months .... It was the conversion PDF I 1st found in a Google search that got me interested , but the guy does not sound all that helpful .....understandable ...he did this for himself and let it out for public use ...and it's his own time which could become all consuming....but then he complains he can't seem to convince Flightsimmers his Idea is better than Arduino.....it likely is but most wannabe Pilots are not Open Source Programmers by Day ( eg. Me ) so with little or no support pushing his "Idea" is gonna be a tough go... He has been talking about Rudders since 2014 so YMMV but I do actually see a post on the Forum from him this year which there hadn't been , when I was looking.
I will be interested to follow your progress so I hope you Start a new thread on the Conversion , since like you I have a 2nd FLCS/TQS Combo I would consider going this route with still..... Where did you Order your Board From ? $50 isn't bad I guess but is twice the cost of a REAL Leonardo ,but is probably twice as good , and if you can get away with one for Both the FLCS and TQS then the pricing would be about the same ....I used 2 Leonardos but bought 2 Clones = 1 Genuine cost
On a Side note I have Finally finished and reassembled my FLCS , but still have some time to put in on the TQS not I decided to add a Shift Register Board and a Rotary switch ( another 16 buttons) to it too.
I will certainly let you know how I get along. If it really doesn't work, I can always throw in two Arduino's and sell the SAM4S-XPRO board. (If you're building robots, I can definitely see how the SAM4S + FreeRTOS is a very powerful package.)
I will certainly let you know how I get along. If it really doesn't work, I can always throw in two Arduino's and sell the SAM4S-XPRO board. (If you're building robots, I can definitely see how the SAM4S + FreeRTOS is a very powerful package.)
Sounds good ...did you just Order off MicroChip Online ? Atmel was selling them direct last year but not any longer it seems , though I think MicroChip Inline maybe their "Online Store" really . MicroChip says it has a NZ Store too I see...
No, they just fake the URL that way Element14 was selling it for cheaper than through MicroChip (who acquired Atmel a while ago). They are all off-shore. I have looked but there are no on-shore resellers here for that kind of stuff.
So I've ordered the SAM4S-XPRO through Element14 which ships from the UK (free shipping over $45 USD) and I've ordered a whole bunch of dupont wires and plugs and a breadboard from AliExpress. I also need a new solder iron holder and one of those things with clip arms.. I was looking at going to my local hardware store but seeing how that stuff is ridiculously cheap in China, I'll just get it online as well.
I did realise MicroChip has bought Atmel ...tricky... I saw it was $48 there so thought maybe that was the place.....
I bought a couple of those helping hands but they were so cheap they kept falling over so I had to drill a hole in them and screw them to an offcut of ply but that soon got old since the Arms were so short , so I copied Hobby Creeks ThirdHand made out of CNC fluid jet arms and a chunk of Ali. for the base, and I'm pretty happy with it ...FAR superior in use.... If you don't have the Ali and a Tap to Thread it , it maybe cheaper to just buy the Third Hand here:
Should of figured someone there would steal his Idea probably why he is branching out into RC etc now too... but worth it for that price....
I still have a missing order from AliExpress though , my ProMicros disappeared ...but at least AliExpress Refunded me.... my TLE5010 boards arrived fine though and were posted the same day.
Am finding my Uni-T 139C invaluable for chasing bad connections and broken wires etc too , I got that on Amazon though.... but Ali will have too if you are placing an order and need one.
I came back from Sydney where I had been for work and I found a very nice package with two original CTS pots (one from a TM stick and the other from a CH stick) that were so very generously donated to me by Debolestis - thanks dude, you frigging rock!!!!
I also received my Atmel SAM4S-XPRO board that I need for my Hempstick conversion but I am still waiting for wiring etc that I ordered from China. But at least I can start programming the SAM4S and start playing with Atmel Studio.
