I'd go for the Palm.  I've been doing a little programming on one for a
project, and it's not too bad, if you have ever programmed a GUI, especially
if you're experience is with a Mac.  The Metrowerks tools are, if you can
believe it, much buggier than MPLAB, but usable in between crashes, just as
MPLAB is.

There is a serial port, and software to support it, which is not too
horrible to figure out (easier than Windoze, for instance).

You could do yourself a really cute GUI, with little sliders and all sorts
of stuff.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rock Thompson [mailto:rock_t@YAHOO.COM]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2000 3:58 PM
> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: User interface for PIC model aricraft controller
>
>
> I've nearly finished a remote control in which a PIC
> monitors pots manipulated by a user, does the AD
> conversions and mixes the inputs as the user has
> programmed.  This mix is then transmitted to an
> aircraft or other vehicle.
>
> The most difficult aspect is proving to be coming up
> with an easy-to-use user interface. At the moment I'm
> reprogramming the PIC everytime I want to make an
> adjustment - this is a very effective form of torture.
>  I would be very appreciative to learn what others
> have done when needing extensive user input.
>
> The particulars are:
> The user interface must allow assigning various
> controls to different channels on the aircraft. The
> effect of the control must also be specified, such as
> direction and travel distance. The interface needs to
> show a field to fill out and then check to be sure the
> input number is within range.
>
> An Excel spreadsheet or simple database program with
> simple programming would be fine, but my application
> needs to be portable for field use and the cost must
> be low (less than a lap top computer).
>
> I see three possibilities:
> 1) Use a big (40x4) charactor LCD or one of the
> graphic LCDs, install the needed key switches and have
> the PIC, or its slave, do everything.
>
> 2) Have a Palm (or the new Visor) PDA be the
> interface, communicating the user input to the PIC and
> receiving current status from the PIC and displaying
> it.
>
> 3) I just thought if this. What about a graphing
> calculator, such as the HP-49G?  It has a serial
> interface, can be programmed in several languages and
> would allow graphing of the control functions, which
> would be nice. These calculators are supposed to have
> advanced list handling abilities - would this be
> practical?
>
> All three solutions cost about the same. Any opinions
> or better ideas?  Thanks!
>
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