Software

konokaiden

So... I have just about finished building my parts, I have downloaded the raspian image and flashed it to the drive. I have a raspberry pi 4 (which has the sd port), and I have the Blender plugin installed correctly. Everything is the latest version. what do I do now? How would I make sure raspian is actually working on the pi, how would I make sure everything is calibrated, how would I record the motion data, and last but not least, how is each board connected to the next?

The Wiki was a bit helpful with this last question, but I'm still unsure. The raspberry pi is connected to the hub through 5 little sword-to-sword plugs (I'm not sure the technical name, but its the gold pins sticking up from the board...), but is that the only thing connecting them? The Pi 4 also needs to be connected to a power supply (preferably a storage unit). The Hub is connected then to each KCeptor, and the wiki made it seem like those chords are special. Are they not the same as ethernet cables, or something similar? And does the Hub use its USB port(s) for anything? Does the Hub go on the out port, or the in port, of the KCeptor?

If I want to rename the bones, how do I edit raspian? How do I confirm it is actually working on the pi when the card is in the port? How do I tell the raspian how to connect to my Wifi? I'm a Windows user, so I'm pretty confident the commands in the wiki won't work, and I have no clue how to access raspian itself to edit it.

But yeah, these are the questions I have at this stage, and they are spots I feel aren't very well documented in the wiki for multiple types of users (Windows, Linux, Mac). If there are specific videos I should watch from the YouTube page, or if they can be simply explained in words, that would be great! I want to reiterate it for clarity, I am a Windows user, I have already installed the plugin in Blender (though the test data occasionally has a glitch where I have to restart the program), and I have already flashed raspian to a micro SD card with the programs provided. In the next few days, I'll get the last of the KCeptors soldered, but I'm waiting on parts to come in. So I can't do much testing in Blender quite yet since I only have the raspberry pi (4) and the Hub finished.

daylanKifky

konokaiden
Hi, You should first start connecting the Hub, making the notochord program run and check that's working correctly.
After that you would plug the KCeptors one by one and calibrate them.
Beware that when self building the hardware there are many things that can go wrong. So be patient with this first steps and if you have any troubles we will be here to help.
A good idea is to start a Log thread where to put all your progress, so if will be easier for us to help you when the context is available.

In order to go though the first steps a good idea is to take a look at some of the other users build log, like this one:
https://forum.chordata.cc/d/98-build-log/2

konokaiden How would I make sure raspian is actually working on the pi, how would I make sure everything is calibrated, how would I record the motion data, and last but not least, how is each board connected to the next?

This process is explained in the user manual section of the wiki.

konokaiden he raspberry pi is connected to the hub through 5 little sword-to-sword plugs

These are female to female jumper cables. They are a pretty common element for electronic prototyping .

konokaiden The Hub is connected then to each KCeptor, and the wiki made it seem like those chords are special

Yes, you should crimp those cables your own. Here's an explanation https://wiki.chordata.cc/wiki/User_Manual/1._Chordata_parts/1.2._Cables

konokaiden

I'll begin making a log in the near future, for sure. As for the wiki links, I have read all of those and don't have much of a better sense of things. For instance, it does say to strip a regular ethernet cable for the wiring, and it talks about having six cords in 3 twisted pairs, and to make them same-color in parallel with a specific tool, but are there no cables that come like that?

Those cables do connect the kceptors to one another, and then to the hub, but the hub also has a USB jack and a microUSB port. Do we use those at some point?

I still don't know how to tell if raspian is working, is that displayed in an IDE somewhere along the way? Plus the information on how to edit the raspian code seems to be given in the form of Linux commands, unless there is something like an IDE to view raspian in. But again, I don't see anything like that, and these don't look like Command Prompt codes. (I've actually tried running them in Command Prompt, and it says it doesn't recognize them).

Finally, the picture on the wiki shows that the KCeptors are housed and the housing has places to run the velcro through. Where can I get that type of housing, and is it shielded against static?