Re: [buildcheapeeg] ElectricGuru

From: Rob Sacks (editor_at_realization.org)
Date: 2002-02-05 23:32:52


Hi Chuck,

> What I'd like to know, Rob, or anyone, is how to look
> like a BMr data stream. I, once, had a BMr, but sold
> it before I really took the time to study it.

> I'm figuring that, if the Roshi EEG unit receives
> the BMr startup character, it would switch to the
> BMr serial protocol.

I assume the purpose of this is to make your EEG
machine capable of working with existing PC
software that accepts input from the Brainmaster.

If so, you'd have to do quite a bit more work than
simply simulating the Brainmaster data output. You
would also have to make your EEG machine capable
of receiving and reacting intelligently to a set of
initialization commands that come from the PC
program.

Also, the Brainmaster has several modes, and
each one formats the output differently.

In any case, you'll find the necessary information
in three documents that Tom Collura used to
provide in the public FTP area of one of the
Brainmaster websites. I'm not sure whether they
are still there. One is the source code for the
Brainmaster itself; another is documentation for
that source by its author; and the third is a Word
document by Tom called "Simplified Command
Summary for Controlling the BrainMaster 2E Module."

> Doesn't it send a sync byte, w/ 4 data bytes?

It has several operating modes. According to the
documentation, none of those modes is as you
describe. However I didn't test them all so I can't
say for sure. The mode I used is a two-channel mode
consisting of a sync byte followed by two data bytes.

> What is the sync byte supposed to look like?
> Does it change value, for each character, or what?

The answer depends on which mode your PC program
instructs the Brainmaster to operate in. For the mode
I chose, the synch byte begins at 1 and then increments
on successive records until it reaches 254, then repeats.
(Those numbers are not typos; don't ask me why they
did it that way.)

Best regards,

Rob

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Davis" <roshicorp_at_roshi.com>
To: "Rob Sacks" <buildcheapeeg_at_yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2002 6:04 AM
Subject: Re: [buildcheapeeg] ElectricGuru

> On 22-Jan-02, Rob Sacks, wrote:
> >Hi Chuck,
>
> >> Ugh! :( But is that realtime, or is that polling?
>
> >It's not realtime. I guess you could call it a kind of
> >polling -- the application is polling a buffer maintained
> >by the operating system. But the port itself doesn't
> >get polled... the port itself gets read after each byte
> >arrives by the operating system's interrupt handler.
>
> >> Does this happen on the receipt of each character?
>
> >The operating system reads the port after receipt of
> >each character, but that has no connection to the timing
> >of anything in the application.
> [...]
>
> What I'd like to know, Rob, or anyone, is how to look
> like a BMr data stream. I, once, had a BMr, but sold
> it before I really took the time to study it.
>
> Doesn't it send a sync byte, w/ 4 data bytes?
>
> What is the sync byte supposed to look like?
> Does it change value, for each character, or what?
>
> I'm figuring that, if the Roshi EEG unit receives
> the BMr startup character, it would switch to the
> BMr serial protocol.
>
> Thanx :)
> --
> .-. .-.
> / \ .-. .-. / \
> / \ / \ .-. _ .-. / \ / \
> -/--Chuck Davis -/-----\-----/---\---/-\---/---\-----/-----\-------/-------\
> RoshiCorp_at_ROSHI.com \ / \_/ `-' \ / \ /



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