This example has been updated for version 4+ of the CircuitPython HID library. On the CircuitPlayground Express this library is built into CircuitPython. So, please use the latest version of CircuitPython as well. (At least 5.0.0-beta.3)
The CPX has an on-board compiler, which means you can program it in (pretty much) any language you want! I opted for CircuitPython, a version of Python for microcontrollers, 'cause Python is awesome.
Here's the GitHub repository that has the full code. The same code is embeded below, simply click the Download link to save as code.py on your CIRCUITPY drive on the CPX
# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2018 [email protected] # # SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT # Minecraft Gesture Controller # # Written by <[email protected]> # MIT License V.asof2018 # Also coffee/beer ware license :) # Super awesome thanks to: # Richard Albritton, Tony DiCola, John Parker # All the awesome people who wrote the libraries # Libraries import time # Libraries for accelerometer import adafruit_lis3dh import board import busio # General purpose libraries import touchio # Libraries for HID Keyboard & Mouse import usb_hid from adafruit_hid.keyboard import Keyboard from adafruit_hid.keyboard_layout_us import KeyboardLayoutUS from adafruit_hid.keycode import Keycode from adafruit_hid.mouse import Mouse # CPX Setup touch_a1 = touchio.TouchIn(board.A1) touch_a1.threshold = 2000 touch_a2 = touchio.TouchIn(board.A2) touch_a2.threshold = 2000 touch_a3 = touchio.TouchIn(board.A3) touch_a3.threshold = 2000 touch_a4 = touchio.TouchIn(board.A4) touch_a4.threshold = 2000 # Keyboard & Mouse Setup # The keyboard object! kbd = Keyboard(usb_hid.devices) # we're americans :) layout = KeyboardLayoutUS(kbd) # The mouse object! mouse = Mouse(usb_hid.devices) # Accelerometer Setup # Initialize Accelerometer i2c = busio.I2C(board.ACCELEROMETER_SCL, board.ACCELEROMETER_SDA) lis3dh = adafruit_lis3dh.LIS3DH_I2C(i2c, address=25) # Set range of accelerometer # (can be RANGE_2_G, RANGE_4_G, RANGE_8_G or RANGE_16_G). lis3dh.range = adafruit_lis3dh.RANGE_8_G # Controller Functions # A helper to 'remap' an input range to an output range def Map(x, in_min, in_max, out_min, out_max): return int( (x - in_min) * (out_max - out_min) / (in_max - in_min) + out_min ) def Move(upDown_axis, isBackward): axis_new = abs(upDown_axis) # If you are touching A4, walk backwards, else walk forwards if isBackward: print("backwards") # Debugging if axis_new > 1.2: # walk threshold if axis_new > 2.5: # run threshold kbd.press(Keycode.LEFT_CONTROL, Keycode.S) time.sleep(0.1) kbd.release_all() else: kbd.press(Keycode.S) time.sleep(0.1) kbd.release_all() else: if axis_new > 1.2: # walk threshold if axis_new > 2.5: # run threshold kbd.press(Keycode.LEFT_CONTROL) time.sleep(0.1) kbd.release_all() else: kbd.press(Keycode.W) time.sleep(0.1) kbd.release_all() def Turn(upDown_axis, leftRight_axis, lookUp): leftRight_adj = int(leftRight_axis) # currently z_axis upDown_adj = int(upDown_axis) # currently y_axis leftRight_new = Map(leftRight_adj, -3, 3, -100, 100) if lookUp and abs(upDown_adj) < 1.2: upDown_new = Map(upDown_adj, -1, 1, -100, 100) else: upDown_new = 0 if abs(leftRight_new) < 127: mouse.move(-leftRight_new, upDown_new) else: mouse.move(0, 0) def Jump(upDown_axis): upDown = abs(upDown_axis) if upDown > 3: kbd.press(Keycode.SPACE, Keycode.W) kbd.release_all() def Give(upDown_axis, frontBack_axis): frontBack_new = abs(frontBack_axis) if abs(upDown_axis) < 1: if frontBack_new > 2: print("give") mouse.click(Mouse.RIGHT_BUTTON) mouse.release_all() def Attack(): """Attack! By clicking the left mouse button""" print("attack") mouse.click(Mouse.LEFT_BUTTON) time.sleep(0.1) mouse.release_all() def Inventory(): """Open up inventory, press the E keyboard key""" print("inventory") # Debugging -- view in serial monitor kbd.press(Keycode.E) time.sleep(0.01) kbd.release_all() def ESC(): """Escape by pressing the ESCape key""" print("ESC") # Debugging -- view in serial monitor kbd.press(Keycode.ESCAPE) time.sleep(0.01) kbd.release_all() def readAxes(): """Convert acceleration from m/s^2 to G, with a delay""" x, y, z = lis3dh.acceleration time.sleep(0.01) return (x / 9.806, y / 9.806, z / 9.806) # 9.806 m/s^2 per G # Main Function while True: # Read accelerometer values (in G). Returns a 3-tuple of x, y, x axis pos_x, pos_y, pos_z = readAxes() # Read finger pads and act accordingly if touch_a1.value: Attack() if touch_a2.value: Inventory() if touch_a3.value: ESC() is_backward = touch_a4.value look_up = touch_a4.value # Run through the motions! .. literally :) Move(pos_y, is_backward) Turn(pos_y, pos_z, look_up) Jump(pos_y) Give(pos_y, pos_x) # Small delay to keep things responsive but # give time for interrupt processing. time.sleep(0.01) # Debugging Ahead!! # Use the following 2 lines to figure out which # axis is upDown, frontBack, or LeftRight # and also for debugging! # print('x = {}G, y = {}G, z = {}G'.format(x, y, z)) # time.sleep(0.3)
Keep readin' if you want to understand how the program works (definitely suggested) or if you want to modify the code.
Required Libraries
To do the things we want with our controller, we need the following CircuitPython libraries. All are available in the bundle, you can learn how to install it here.
-
LIS3DH accelerometer
- This allows us to use motion to trigger various things.
-
Human Interface Device ("HID") keyboard
- This library allows us to control the keyboard!
-
HID mouse
- This library means we can control the mouse!
-
CPX capacitive touch
- This library lets us use the capacitive touch feature on the CPX, hooray!
- A couple of other built-in libraries to make our lives easier: time, usb_hid, busio, and board.
########################## ## Libraries ## ########################## import touchio import board import busio import time import usb_hid #Libraries for HID Keyboard & Mouse from adafruit_hid.keyboard import Keyboard from adafruit_hid.keycode import Keycode from adafruit_hid.keyboard_layout_us import KeyboardLayoutUS from adafruit_hid.mouse import Mouse #Libraries for accelerometer import adafruit_lis3dh
Configure and initialize the libraries
Assign variables for the keyboard, mouse, and accelerometer objects. Select a range for the accelerometer.
####################### # CPX Setup # ####################### touch_a1 = touchio.TouchIn(board.A1) touch_a1.threshold = 2000 touch_a2 = touchio.TouchIn(board.A2) touch_a2.threshold = 2000 touch_a3 = touchio.TouchIn(board.A3) touch_a3.threshold = 2000 touch_a4 = touchio.TouchIn(board.A4) touch_a4.threshold = 2000 ############################ # Keyboard & Mouse Setup # ############################ # The keyboard object! kbd = Keyboard(usb_hid.devices) # we're americans :) layout = KeyboardLayoutUS(kbd) #The mouse object! mouse = Mouse(usb_hid.devices) ####################### # Accelerometer Setup # ####################### #Initialize Accelerometer i2c = busio.I2C(board.ACCELEROMETER_SCL, board.ACCELEROMETER_SDA) lis3dh = adafruit_lis3dh.LIS3DH_I2C(i2c, address=25) # Set range of accelerometer (can be RANGE_2_G, RANGE_4_G, RANGE_8_G or RANGE_16_G). lis3dh.range = adafruit_lis3dh.RANGE_8_G
Write short functions for each of the controls
The motion controls can be tricky. We did some initial testing with the accelerometer by printing the values in a serial monitor (in the source code, go to the 'main loop' while True: section and uncomment the two debugging lines). This will help you to determine thresholds for walking, running and jumping, looking left and right, and placing objects.
The touch pad triggers are much easier as you are only looking for a capacitive trigger (True/False) when you read the touch_an.value
Remember to release all of the keyboard and mouse keys at the end of each function! Otherwise you'll end up with stuck keys, in which case you can always unplug the USB cable
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