• 09Oct

  PCB, Etc.

  Development, Progress Update Comments Off

  So the USB communication seems like it’s gotten to a working point at this point.  We’re actually starting to get to a point where we’re starting to make things more and more permanent.  As of today, in the SVN repository, there is an initial prototype circuit board for the USB version.  The Wii version is mostly the same; a circuit board for that should be forthcoming as well.  Hopefully we’ll be able to make a few ourselves and test it out, then maybe a small production run.  This means that we’ll be hopefully offering kits soon!

• 05Oct

  USB + External Implementation

  Progress Update 1 Comment

  In the last few weeks, this is what’s been done -

  1) USB functionality is coming along.  Right now, the guitar will connect to a computer (and hopefully a Playstation 3..) and register button presses, but it has a problem with randomly disconnecting.  This may be cause by electromagnetic interference, but may be a problem with the AVR chip itself. If that’s the case, things get more and more difficult to fix.

  2) Proof of concept for an external version.  By externally attaching wires with adhesive, the guitar doesn’t have to be built into the guitar body itself anymore.  This means that it will be possible to make a version that simply clips on to the outside of an existing guitar.   Which means we can start making kits and products that don’t cost like $200.  Cool!

  Here’s some pictures of the

  

  

  

  
  
  

• 28Aug

  Videos!

  New Release, Progress Update, Videos Comments Off

  So, I should probably just have gone and gotten a new camera, but after struggling with things for a week or two, I’ve finally gotten some videos taken and edited so the sound doesn’t sound TOO bad.

  Here, we’re showing off the ability of the V1 to practice chords -
  

  And here’s a a video showing off how you can map individual notes and scales to the guitar -
  

  Although we don’t show it (since we got that code working after we took the video…), there’s another fret combination (first 3 strings on the 4th and 5th frets) that allows you to change between the original “play with the frets” mode, chord mode, and notes mode.

  There’s still some updating of the software we’d like to do, since right now, you can re-assign the chords or notes that you play as color buttons, but they reset to the default when you restart the controller.  It shouldn’t be difficult, but right now, we’re using 97.7% of the current chip’s memory, so we’re going to have to upgrade our hardware first.  Still, that’s just a simple swapping of a better chip, so things are coming along!

• 14Aug

  Chords, part 2

  Development, Progress Update Comments Off

  So this week, in addition to not having a camera to take new video with, we’ve been working on expanding the abilities of the V1, including the ability to play scales and chords.  While before we were looking into ways to connect the controller via USB to reprogram it, allowing you re-map the buttons on the controller, now we’ve incorporated a method of re-mapping the controller in-game, allowing you to pick which chords you want to correspond to which buttons in the game.  This afternoon, we’ll try to get the camera working, and hopefully we’ll get a better video out soon…

• 11Aug

  Chords and Scales

  Development, Progress Update Comments Off

  So after a weekend away, we’re back tonight with some cool stuff.  Basically, some thinking, some re-writing of some code, a few added functions, and now we’re able to use the V1 to play Guitar Hero using either chords or notes on a scale for the buttons.  Of course, the notes you’ll be playing still won’t be the actual notes of the songs on the game, but it will help you work on note and chord transistions, hopefully in a way that’s more fun/motivating than just having to play a lot of chord transitions.

  I have to admit, once you start using chords or notes, it makes playing the game a lot harder. When testing it out, even playing easy with chords mapped G Major to the green button, C Major to red, and E Major to yellow, I still failed shockingly quickly… Of course, I’m just about no good at the real guitar, and I’ve been doing a lot more guitar engineering than actual guitar playing this summer! Maybe this’ll start me practicing the guitar again…

  Well, I’ll try and get a video up in the next few days.  The only camera I’ve got around here is having some problems with the sound quality, so I want to be able to take a nicer video than I can right now.

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