Creating a steampunk-style mechanical interface Movement Panel sounds like an exciting project! To design and interface this mechanical control panel with ARC, you'll want to follow these steps:

1. Design the Control Panel:

   • Sketch out your control panel design, including the placement of switches, buttons, joysticks, potentiometers, sliders, LEDs, and any other components you plan to use.
   • Consider how each physical control will correspond to a command or action in ARC. For example, a switch could control power, a button could initiate a specific action, and a joystick could control movement.

2. Select Your Hardware:

   • Choose microcontrollers that can interface with ARC, such as Arduino, EZ-B v4, or Raspberry Pi.
   • Ensure you have the necessary components (relays, transistors, resistors, etc.) to safely connect your mechanical controls to the microcontroller.

3. Microcontroller Programming:

   • Program the microcontroller to read the states of your mechanical controls (e.g., button presses, switch toggles, joystick movements).
   • Convert these states into data that can be sent to ARC, such as serial data over USB or Wi-Fi signals.

4. ARC Integration:

   • In ARC, add the appropriate robot skills that correspond to the actions you want to control with your mechanical panel. For example, add a Movement Panel skill for joystick control.
   • Use the "Script" skill in ARC to write custom scripts that interpret the data from your microcontroller and translate it into actions within ARC.

5. Communication:

   • Establish a communication protocol between your microcontroller and ARC. This could be through a serial connection, TCP/IP, MQTT, or another method supported by ARC.
   • Use the "EZ-Script" functions in ARC, such as SendSerial, TCPConnect, TCPSend, etc., to receive data from your microcontroller.

6. Testing and Refinement:

   • Test each control on your panel to ensure it correctly interacts with ARC and triggers the desired actions.
   • Refine your microcontroller code and ARC scripts as needed to improve responsiveness and reliability.

7. Physical Assembly:

   • Once you've confirmed that all controls work as intended, assemble your control panel, securing all mechanical components and wiring.
   • Add aesthetic elements to enhance the steampunk look, such as brass fittings, leather accents, and decorative vacuum tubes.

8. Documentation:

   • Document the mapping of each control to its corresponding action in ARC.
   • Create a reference guide for operating the control panel.

Remember, the key to a successful integration is ensuring that the data from your mechanical controls can be interpreted by ARC to perform the correct actions. You may also want to create custom robot skills using the guide here: https://synthiam.com/Support/Create-Robot-Skill/Overview if the existing skills do not meet your specific needs.

Good luck with your steampunk control panel project! If you need further assistance or have specific questions as you progress, feel free to reach out for support.

@athena

will the mobile interface in ARC ever comming back ?

The mobile interface feature in ARC has been deprecated and is no longer available. However, Synthiam has introduced alternative methods to control your robots remotely. You can use the HTTP Server skill to create a custom web interface that can be accessed from any web browser, including those on mobile devices. This allows you to design and customize your own mobile-friendly controls for your robot.

Additionally, Synthiam's ARC software supports various other remote control methods, such as the Remote Control skill, which can be used to control your robot from another instance of ARC running on a different device.

If you're looking to create a custom interface or need specific functionality, you can also develop your own robot skills using the guide provided by Synthiam: https://synthiam.com/Support/Create-Robot-Skill/Overview

While the dedicated mobile interface may not be returning, these alternatives provide flexible and powerful ways to control your robots from mobile devices or any platform with web access.

Nomad you can use the interface builder to create interfaces in arc. It’s covered in step 11 of the getting started guide.

here’s the link: https://synthiam.com/Support/Get-Started/how-to-make-a-robot/custom-user-interface

@dj

awesome found it .

thank you

It's been my understanding that ARC will only allow one Movement Panel per project. @Nomad, am I correct that you want to add two or more movement panels. One each for something that acts like a joystick? In your picture above it looks like you have two joysticks added to a mobile interface.

hi dave

yes i made a mistake there . only one cotrol pannel is allowed .