Book about fischertechnik TXT 4.0 controller internals

[david_adams]

Dear all,

This is to let you know that I have been writing a book about the internals of the TXT 4.0 controller, which is now available as an eBook for (free) download. It is currently an editorial draft; it still has to be reviewed for typos, glaring mistakes, etc., but should prove useful to TXT 4.0 enthusiasts.

The book stretches to more than 700 pages in its printed format, and more than 800 as an eBook (due to different formatting; content is identical) and you are welcome to visit its web page for details and a download link -- no strings attached.

https://tarma.com/embedded/txt4book

Enjoy,
-- David Adams

[fishfriend]

Hallo...
Good and very mutch Information.
Thank you.

Now i know what are the difference from the two combisensors.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Holger

[david_adams]

Thanks for your feedback.

Glad you found something useful in the book, and feel free to point out omissions or incorrect pieces of information.

Also, if anyone has stock images for the newer 6-pin combi and environmental sensors that I may use in the book, then that would be very welcome. The FT web site still shows the old 10-pin models for the new sensors.

Best wishes,
-- David

[fishfriend]

Hallo...
I have it on my desk. (Shall i took a pikture?)
or as a painting:
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8473

[david_adams]

Thanks Holger,

I have these sensors myself too, and even took some pictures in a lightbox (you know, Amazon-style), but they were not quite as pin sharp as the images from the FT web site; that is why I was looking for "official" pictures.

However, thanks to your link to the "Bild vom Kombisensor 6-Polig" post I ended up on the Santjohanser web site where they do have at least a picture of the environment sensor in its 6-pin edition: https://santjohanser.de/fischertechnik/ ... sor-6polig

Unfortunately, no sign of the combi sensor there; it seems to have disappeared from the official FT (.de) site as well as from Santjohanser, and even from the Dutch www.fischertechnikwebshop.com site (as you also noticed).

[Updated] Studica have the 10-pin combi sensor still on their web site: https://www.studica.com/fischertechnik/combi-sensor

[Updated 2] In the end I used Photoshop to replace the red lid on the 6-pin RGB-Gesture sensor by black; that makes it indistinguishable from the real 6-pin combi sensor.

PS: I noticed that you are working on a book on the TXT & related controllers from the user's perspective. Feel free to ping me if you get stuck with some of the technical internals; they are probably in my book but may be hard to find among all the information there.

Best wishes,
-- David

[Cody]

Hi David,

after a quick look at your book, I must say it's an incredible piece of work. I like the deep dive into the internals of the controller, with detailed explanations of both the hardware and software components, along with fantastic graphics.
It's great to see someone else exploring the depths of theTXT's source code.

Best,
Cody

[vleeuwen]

Nice book.

[Cymbaline]

Nice!
That's been quite an impressive amount of work...

[david_adams]

Thank you all -- hope this book will be of use to many.

Once the editorial review is complete, it will be issued as a printed paperback at a nominal cost for those who prefer a hard copy. The eBook will be updated at the same time and remains available as a free download for personal study.

-- David.

[rbudding]

Hi David !

First of all, many many thx for all the work you have delivered. Excellent and almost in German style; "Outspoken punctuality reflects the German mentality, which values ​​reliability and organization".

Not really shocked about your observations in chapter 18.8. Look familiair in respect to other not completely finished FT products.
Nevertheless.. These are toys... right?

Saw you comments related to pictures, 6 pin I2C sensor. It inspired me to test the new SW again.

My question to you, hopefully without any rework, could you be so kind to have a chapter about multiple TxT4.0 ? I would like to utilize three in order to have enough for the Maker model.

again! many thx, Gruss Richard

[david_adams]

Hello Richard,

Thanks for your message. What do you need to know about the use of multiple controllers? The book as it stands has a few sections that discuss how to use it, and of course chapter 11 is dedicated to the internal implementation of the whole Main/Extension controller scheme.

To use one or more extension controllers in a Python application:

(1) Before powering on, connect all controllers via the 6-pin flat cables.

(2) Power on the controllers that you want to use as the Extensions, and make sure that you set their Role to Extension, assigning unique numbers to each of them. These numbers are NOT the same as the indices 1, 2, ... that we use below; they are more or less arbitrary.

(3) Finally power on the Main controller; if necessary, change its role to Main. (If its previous role was Extension, then the controller must be restarted after reconfiguration to Main.)

(4) In your Python program, which will be running on the Main controller, use separate Controller representations for each of the controllers, starting with the main controller. Section 22.3 in the book deals with that, in particular examples 22.3.3 and 22.3.4.

(5) From then on, you can attach the I/O devices that you connect to each of the controllers by using that controller's representation from step (4).

For example:

Code: Alles auswählen

import fischertechnik.factories as ftfact

ftfact.init()           # Normal preamble
ftfact.init_input_factory()
ctrl = ftfact.controller_factory.create_graphical_controller()  # Main controller (= extension 0)
ext1 = ftfact.controller_factory.create_graphical_controller(1)  # First extension controller
ext2 = ftfact.controller_factory.create_graphical_controller(2)  # Second extension controller
main_cs8 = ftfact.input_factory.create_color_sensor(ctrl, 8)  # Attached to main controller
ext1_cs8 = ftfact.input_factory.create_color_sensor(ext1, 8)  # Attached to first extension
ext2_cs8 = ftfact.input_factory.create_color_sensor(ext2, 8)  # Attached to second extension
ftfact.initialized()    # Initialization complete

...etc...

I2C sensors can be used from any controller without further ado; USB sensors (the camera, really) only from the controller to which they are physically attached. See sections 3.8 and 3.9 for more info.

Please let me know if that is the sort of thing you are looking for, or what other information you think would be useful to add.

Best wishes,
-- David.

[david_adams]

@Richard:

Additional: I have just added a new example program to the example code for the book that shows one way of dealing with multiple extension controllers without getting bogged down in the discovery order of the extensions.

It isn't in the text yet, but if you download the Txt4Book-Examples.zip file from the book's web page https://tarma.com/embedded/txt4book then you will find it in the examples/python/ExtensionController.py file, reasonably self-documented.

-- David.