A bit about objects...

All of us ooPic'ers of old know that it was sometimes a bit tedious to get Scott to fix up an object that didn't work the way we wanted it to... problem solved.

Scott tells me that in the Raptor IDE there is now an object editor. Want an object to work differently? How about an object he didn't think of? No problem... Roll your own.

The Raptor IDE will ship with all of the necessary ooPIC objects just like always, the difference is that there will no longer be hundreds of factory objects built in. Oh, it will ship with a handful of the most necessary objects to build a robot or electronic device but now there will be an 'object editor' that will allow you to create an object anytime you need one. Below is a very simple example of how it will be done:

'1. Open the IDE.
'2. Write this code:
'**********************************************************
'oLED Object
'**********************************************************
Dim IOLine As oIOLine

Sub TurnOn()
IOLine.Value = 1
IOLine.Direction = 1
End Sub

Sub TurnOff()
IOLine.value = 0
IOLine.direction = 0
End Sub
'**********************************************************
'3. Save this code as "oLED.osc" in the "Objects" directory, and you are done!

'To use your new object, create a new project in the IDE and write this code:
'**********************************************************
'Program that uses the oLED Object I just made.
'**********************************************************
Dim RedOne As oLED
RedOne.IOLine = 22
RedOne.TurnOn
'**********************************************************
'Pretty easy to me...But, Lets say that you wanted to vary the brightness of the LED.You can 'change the oLED Object in this way:
'**********************************************************'
'LED Object with brightness control
'**********************************************************
Dim PWM As oPWML
Alias IOLine as PWM.IOLine
Alias Brightness as PWM.Value

Sub TurnOn()
PWM.Operate = 1
PWM.Value = 255
End Sub

Sub TurnOff()
PWM.Value = 0
End Sub
'**********************************************************
'Now you can do this:
'**********************************************************
'Program that uses the oLED I just made.
'**********************************************************
Dim RedOne As oLED
Dim GreenOne As oLED
RedOne.IOLine = 22
GreenOne.IOLine = 23
RedOne.TurnOn
RedOne.Brightness = 75
GreenOne.TurnOn
GreenOne.Brightness = 20
'**********************************************************

ooPIC-32 Raptor 01

Well here it is ladies and gentlemen... ooPIC-32 Raptor number 0001 !!

Picture number 1 - The first fully assembled Raptor in existance. It is sitting on a picture of the all new Virtual Circuit Interface.

Picture number 2 - My little contribution... LED Backlight. Little function but very cool! IO Controlled. On/Off or you could take the high amplitude range from the built in Soundgin and tie it to the LED IO programatically for a sound / light effect.

I am going to keep this BLOG running until Scott gets the new ooPic website up and running. Please direct all questions and comment to me at this location as Scott does not have tons of time to break away from development.

Another awsome rendering,

Here is the latest email content from Scott...

All new ooPIC32 Raptor! THE OOPIC IS BACK!

oooooh oopic fans, take a look at this.....
I Just recieved this image from Scott at Savage Innovations. What is it you may ask...? Well, it is the rendering of the brand spanking new ooPIC32 Raptor microcontroller.
Pic32, 80 MIPS, 12K Internal Ram, eeprom for data logging or storage. USB Programmable.
3.3V and 5V regulators. 40 Servo Ports. All the objects you are used to.
The SOUNDGIN is BUILT IT! (Soundgin voice and sound effects generator)
ALL NEW ooPic32 Firmware - Yes that means ooPic BASIC (VISUAL BASICish) language.
Approx 3 inch diameter - +/- .75 hole to hole / +/- 2.77 hole to hole straight across.

In case you wanted to know, that is a Dodecagon. From wiki ~ In geometry, a dodecagon is any polygon with twelve sides and twelve angles.

I am proud to say that I got to name the ooPIC32 Raptor and it was very nice of Scott to add my initials to it.... TM is for Ted Macy right? Couldn't be Trade Mark... naw that would just be wrong. ROFL!

Scott tells me to expect a public release of sometime fall 2011.

Pricing has not been mentioned in detail yet but I think it will be under 80 USD.

I am clearing my workbench right now. This is exciting!