> The other end of the spectrum, of course, are the people who didn't
> take any of my advice, and were asking for help, a week from the
> deadline, trying to get an incomplete set of the wrong equipment to 
> do
> the job. ("I need to know where to order robot parts from" "What, 
> now?
> Isn't the thing due in a week and a half?"). These guys still 
> passed,
> somehow.

I acted as (unpaid of course) technical consultant to a final year 
student project last year. I gave them advice both on how to best (I 
thought) do the main task and also how to do the PC interface. They 
certainly didn't take my advice on how to do the main task and I 
acknowledge that, even though my ideas were of course better 
[[vvvbg]]] they showed initiative in trying to do it their way.

BUT, the device was a specialist mouse emulator and was intended to 
appear to the PC as and function like a mouse. Looking like a USB 
mouse was highly desirable in the circumstances. I suggested that in 
order to get the system going with absolute minimum lack of knowledge 
they could utilise a standard mechanical ball USB mouse and emulate 
the interrupter input signals to the on-mouse IC. The mouse could 
provide the USB interface and all ID aspects. They then only need 
provide it with signals which appeared to be derived from its normal 
(rolling ball) input. As they were already effectively synthesising 
mouse movement signals from their interface this should have been a 
trivial task - or as trivial a one as was possible. But they declined 
to try this and launched into producing their own mouse-PC interface 
from a standing start. No prizes for guessing the outcome.



            Russell

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist