New Firefly Build, Website, and More!

I'm really excited to announce the release of several new Firefly endeavors I've been working on over the past few months. The first is the release of a new Firefly Build (1.0067) which is compatible with the latest version of Grasshopper (0.9.0006). This release has a lot of new features including: an entirely re-written Firefly Firmata, multiple web-cam support, a new Load Image component, several new filters and effects, a re-written Pachube/Cosm component, and a Frequency Visualizer component. For more information about all the new features, be sure to check out the ReadMe text file included in the download.

I've also been working on an entirely new website for firefly. Starting from the ground-up, I rebuilt the interface so it's more user-friendly and informative. I still have plans to incorporate other features in the site... so expect more new here in the future. But, for now I'd love to get your feedback on the new site http://www.fireflyexperiments.com

Lastly, I've also been hard at work on a new Firefly User's Guide (called Interactive Prototyping). This manual is still a work-in-progress but it is intended to teach the basics of electronics (using an Arduino) as well as various digital/physical prototyping techniques to people new to the field. It introduces Arduino (including programming in the Arduino IDE) and runs through several different examples. It also features an introduction to Firefly and has many step-by-step tutorials to teach you the basics of how to use Firefly as an Interactive Prototyping Environment (IPE). I intend to add new chapters to this in the coming months (including chapters on computer vision and networking). But, I wanted to release it now to give people a basic understanding of the interface. Again, I look forward to your feedback.

So, check out these links:
New Firefly Website: http://www.fireflyexperiments.com

Download Firefly Build 1.0067: http://fireflyexperiments.com/download/

Download Interactive Prototyping Manual: http://fireflyexperiments.com/resources/

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Yoshi Fukumori on August 17, 2012 at 6:10pm

thanks! looks really amazing the new website

Permalink Reply by Yasser Hafizs on August 18, 2012 at 9:33am

Thanks Andy, It was great updates.

Wish for next release : Can Firefly have a component to convert Photodiode or LDR value into Lux? (10K ohm)

Permalink Reply by Andy Payne on August 18, 2012 at 10:31am

Hi Yasser,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure adding this would be very beneficial (for a couple of reasons). First, and foremost... the conversion from an ADC value to Lux (or any other unit depending on what you're measuring) is usually just a formula. To make this conversion, it makes more sense to just use an Expression component, and type in the appropriate formula (feeding the ADC value in as your variable). You may have convert the ADC value back into Volts... but this is usually just a matter of multiplying the 0-1023 value by a scale factor (usually the step value as the number of millivolts) to get this value back into voltage.

The second reason I'm not sure this would be beneficial is that low-cost LDR's are very rarely used to measure actual light intensities (as Lux). More often, they're just used to determine if the area is Light, Dark, or some where in between... but it's usually just a generalization. Here's a link that explains how to make the conversion using an LDR: http://www.emant.com/316002.page... but as it says... it's not really a good idea to use an LDR for Lux values. Photodiodes are more appropriate and here's a page to make the proper conversion: http://www.emant.com/324003.page

HTH,

Andy

Permalink Reply by Yasser Hafizs on August 19, 2012 at 3:31pm

I see, this is very helpful. Thanks for advance Andy.

Best,

Yasser

Permalink Reply by feliks kristman on January 2, 2013 at 6:06am