Friday, November 30, 2007

Say Cheese!

I've been testing out the Canon SDK for an powershot model I have and I finally got it to work! I made a simple console app that starts the sdk, connects to the camera, and then takes a pictures and saves it to the computer. Not bad for a few hours of shuffling through documentation ;) How this works into my multitouch project... that's my secret for now!

In other news, I made the final screen for my multitouch box using the glue method I previously described. I'll admit, it was much more challenging than I initially thought, simply because of the size. I ended up diluting the glue to a thin consistency and then spraying it on the acrylic. I then used a large squeegee to get all the excess glue and air out from under the rosco grey. Overall, the screen looks great. I should be able to get it reinstalled into the big box so I can test the image quality.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Out

I'll be in the garage for the next few days! See-ya Blogosphere :)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Photo update

In my last post I alluded to my current project, which is a big multitouch box. Here's a picture of what it looks like (with one of the side panels off). I was doing a projection test with a DVD of the movie Robots.





So anyways, nothing that impressive yet. I had trouble getting the rosco to stretch tight over my acrylic, so I had to figure out a way to adhere it to the surface. I tried various spray adhesives from 3M and I found that while many offer a strong bond, they all leave a visible texture.

I came up with a solution that seems to work quite well. Naturally, it was the most simplistic solution smile The secret adhesive is… dun dun dun… Elmer’s glue. That’s right… the white stuff we got all over our hands and clothes in grade-school.

I diluted some white glue with hot water so it was thin enough to be brushed onto the acrylic. The trick is to work with the rosco as if you are applying some window film. Apply a liberal amount of glue to the acrylic and then lay down the rosco starting from one end (try to minimize air pockets). Next, wet the surface (you don’t have to do this… but just to be nice to the rosco you should) and squeegee the air pockets out. I let mine dry for a few hours and it left me with a perfectly flat rosco/acrylic combo. Projecting onto it, there is no visible pattern or texture like I had with various brands of spray glue.

If this experience has taught me anything… it is to always try the low-tech solution first. That's all for now... more updates to come since I have this next week off from school!