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For more details about the winning projects and background on the embeddedSPARK 2010 competition, read on!
Hardware and software
As Microsoft announced in January, 75 round-two contestants in the embeddedSPARK 2010 competition received a kit including the Icop VDX-6326 (below). The 3.5-inch SBC has an 800MHz Vortex 86SX processor, 256MB of RAM, 4MB of onboard flash (for the boot loader), and both Mini-PCI and CompactFlash expansion slots.
According to Microsoft, the complete embeddedSPARK kit included not only the SBC, but also 512MB of bootable flash storage, a Windows CE 6.0 BSP (board support package), Platform Builder R2, and Visual Studio 2005 Professional. The blue chassis pictured below was also part of the kit, and featured three 10/100 Ethernet ports, four serial ports, a parallel port, three USB ports, and 16-bit GPIO -- offering contestants plenty of scope for adding connectivity to their devices.
Guitar Multi Effect
In the proposal he submitted to Microsoft, Marco Bodoira writes that the dream of every guitarist is to try all available effects, typically built into footswitches that can cost $100 or $200 apiece. His "Guitar Multi Effect" project is designed to emulate all effects digitally, saving money and giving a musician less to carry from gig to gig.
Bodoira adds that the Windows CE-based device (below left) also offers a karaoke mode that accompanies a guitarist with previously recorded audio tracks. When fitted with an optional touchscreen (below right) it also enables playback of video lessons and allows downloading new effects from the web, he says.
Using the embeddedSPARK kit described earlier in this story, Bodoira added a footswitch hand-fabricated from a piece of aluminum handrail, connecting the required LEDs and switches to the VDX-6326 via GPIO. Since the computer had no microphone input, one was added to the device by soldering wire
s directly on its main board, he adds.
According to Bodoira, the seven-inch touchscreen display also used in the project was connected to the computer via VGA and USB. (He added that if the Guitar Multi Effect device were to be commercially produced, a smaller, less-expensive screen would be employed.)
An application (above right) written using Silverlight is said to permit selecting effects, recording the guitar via a microphone and saving the results as .WAV files, and viewing video guitar lessons. In karaoke mode, the user can load music imported via a USB drive and play over it, Bodoira adds.
The Bowman's Assistant
In his proposal, George Mallard explains that rowing -- involving racing shells that are "carbon fiber missiles optimized for speed" -- has more than 150,000 regular participants in the U.S., even though it is ignored by television. A crew of from one to nine rowers faces to the rear of the craft, while a bowman also rows and faces to the rear, but turns around to navigate the boat and direct the rowers, he adds.
According to Mallard, computerized instrumentation has not been widely adopted in rowing, though the Olympic coaching staff has fitted oars with strain gauges, using the resulting data for post-practice analysis. The "Bowman's Assistant," however, could provide a bowman with real time data on rower performance, also including a GPS-controlled moving map display and a bow-mounted webcam, he writes.
Mallard says the effectiveness of each rower's oar may be accurately measured by measuring water pressure as it acts on the blade, adding that the different depths the oar experiences during a stroke may be compensated for by taking readings at both the front and back of the blades. In order to measure pressure, a Phidgets 1126 differential pressure sensor was employed, together with a Windows CE-ready 1018 interface kit, he adds.
To help a bowman judge a shell's trim and navigate without turning around, Mallard also added a bow-mounted video camera to the sy
stem, plus a USB-interfaced Sparkfun ET312 GPS receiver. A user interface (above) crafted in Silverlight integrates the video feed with graphical displays of a boat's position and speed, he writes.
Noting that "water and computers don't mix well," Mallard installed the VDX-6326, the GPS receiver, the Phidgets board, a WiFi transceiver (for a ship-to-shore data relay), and a power supply into the watertight case shown at right. The case was tested in advance to make sure it was transparent to WiFi frequencies by zapping it in a microwave for thirty seconds, when it remained cool, the proposal adds.
Uber Tag
"Waldozer," whose full name has still not been released, proposed building the VDX-6326 into a "portable tactical vest" that would include a touchscreen, a GPS receiver, and a ZigBee communications module. Also included are IR sensors and a vibration motor, designed to let the wearer know when he or she has been "shot" by the modified, IR-equipped Crossman PulseR740 air gun pictured below.
According to Waldozer, Uber Tag brings some of the best features of computer games to a real-world physical came. For example, the GPS-enabled "radar" shows where teammates are located; real-time statistics on shots fired and "health" are available; and the user hears a "heart beat" sound when an enemy is within 30 feet, the proposal states.
Waldozer writes that the v
est-mounted hardware includes not only the VDX-6326 CPU, but also a EM-406A GPS module, a serial connection to the Crossman gun, an Xbee wireless module, and an IR sensor array. It's said the vest also includes an earphone jack, which provides audio of "gun shots, air strikes, and other pertinent information."
Uber Tag also includes a wrist-mounted touchscreen, connected to the VDX-6326 via USB. As pictured above left, the screen shows the health of a user's teammates and the number of shields left. The display may also be used to send attack and retreat commands or launch virtual air strikes, Waldozer adds.
Sample projects cited by the company include a game designed specifically for embedded devices, an interactive toy for children, or "a magic button that turns your house into a disco."
Launched at the ESC (Embedded Systems Conference) in Boston, the three-round competition began last September and ended at 8 pm EDT on Apr. 2, 2010, according to Microsoft. The three rounds in the competition were as follows:
Further information
For more details about Microsoft's embeddedSPARK 2010 challenge, see the company's website, here. For the list of three finalists and links to descriptions of their projects, go here.
For more information about the Icop VDX-6326 and the complete embeddedSPARK hardware kit, see Icop's website, here, and www.embeddedpc.net, here.
For more information about Microsoft's past embedded development contests, check out our previous coverage using the links below.
