Remember, the scanner is not really a scanner, but more a 3D encoder that encodes the X,Y and Z coordinates of a pointer, so the plan was to use it to encode points along the surface of the car, like the outlines of the bonnet, and then do some birail+ or lofting to create the surfaces.
So basically, I need a script/plugin that reads the data from the com-port, and creates CV-curves from the coordinates.
The chip is programmed to transfer the X,Y and Z coordinates in 2x8bit words, then folowed by a control byte telling if its the beginning of a new curve, a in-curve point, or the last point of the curve.
Another usage for this deviceis 3D painting. As you know, the pain-tool in MAYA is limited to X and y, but with my device we could add the Z coordinate to the paint tools, or any tool with the right programming, but thats a bit far out, and not really what I want (not yet anyways).
Status for the hardware:
Completed the encoders, and presicion logic.
Completed a beta of the chip software (*)
Working on designs for the lightweight framework.
(*)The chip reads the data from the encoders, converts it to readable X, Y and Z data, and sends this formated datastring to the COM port: "XXX.XXX,YYY.YYY,ZZZ.ZZZ,C"
The coordinates is a value from 0 to 65025 for each of the axes and the "C" is the control byte. Currently "C" is 0 for curve start, 1 for in-curve point, and 2 for cure end point. Of course this is can be changed to anything I´d like, cause I´m doing the programming
All I need to do to display the data, is hook the device up to COM2 (or any COM port) and fire up hyper terminal in windows, and connect through the com-port, and the data wil opo up on the screen.
So what remains is just constructing the rig.
I`m considdering using fiberglass and aluminium, and polished steel rails for the static ground rails.
Anyways, the work is coming along quite nicely, and soon I´ll get some money for the construction of the encoder rig.
