After getting frustrated trying to get any Java USB library to work I figured it’s probably worth writing about one that does (It seems many are old projects). Specifically if you want to control DreamCheeky’s Thunder Turret, this guide is dedicated to you.<\/p>\n
One of the first pitfalls I fell into is what documentation to read and where. With some of the libraries it seemed documentation was non existent. I’ll attempt to link all the sources I used and comment the hell out of my code. I found myself asking “why?” A LOT as this is my first exposure Java USB and the libraries assume the reader has existing knowledge of USB protocols.\u00a0I found many Python tutorials but here is one for Java.<\/p>\n
When writing this I was using Windows 7 64bit. Programming in NetBeans.<\/p>\n
Read some of this:\u00a0http:\/\/libusbjava.sourceforge.net\/wp\/<\/a><\/p>\n This is the project site for Java libusb wrapper we will be using. It details how to set-up your device for use with the libusb library. I will be attempting to go through everything in detail for Win7 first but I’m hoping to make another post in the near future about getting everything to work in Linux (Debian\/Centos\/Ubuntu likely).<\/p>\n libusb-win32-bin-1.2.6.0.zip: libusb jar library (ch.ntb.usb-0.5.9.jar): In order to allow libusb to see the usb device we need to create a driver for it. This is done with a tool provided with libusb-win32. Inside “bin” directory in the zip file run the inf-wizard.exe, select next and find the device we want to use in your Java program. For the Thunder Turret the Vendor ID is 0x2123 and the Product ID is 0x1010. Select this and click next. Click next again and select a place to save the driver. Install the driver then check that the USB device is using it.<\/p>\n Creating the driver will automatically copy over some dlls but one needs to be copied over manually:<\/p>\n By default the device manage will not use this driver as it is not digitally signed. We may need to force the device manager to use our driver. \u00a0In the start menu right click “Computer” and select manage. On the left pane select Device Manager. The launcher will be under “Human Interface Devices”. Find the right device with the right product id and vendor id.<\/p>\n Right click device > Properties > Details tab > Property: “Hardware Ids”<\/p>\n VID = Vendor ID (1010) Select the driver tab and update the driver. Locate the driver manually and explicitly pick the driver you made. (It will warn you about the driver not being digitally signed)<\/p>\n Your missile launcher is ready for some Java!<\/p>\n Lets start by creating an object to hide all of the grizzly bits from us so we can just send a command and a length of time to execute it in milliseconds.<\/p>\n Create a new Java Application NetBeans Project and import the\u00a0ch.ntb.usb-0.5.9.jar file.<\/p>\n To control the launcher we are sending commands in the data packet for the control message. To control the motors the first byte is 0x02. For the LED it is 0x03. The second byte is the command and the other 6 bytes are 0x00. For reference the commands we are passing in the data packet are as follows:<\/p>\n DOWN = 0x01 Thanks to:\u00a0https:\/\/github.com\/codedance\/Retaliation<\/a><\/p>\nFiles<\/h3>\n
\nhttp:\/\/sourceforge.net\/projects\/libusb-win32\/files\/libusb-win32-releases\/1.2.6.0\/
\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/sourceforge.net\/projects\/libusbjava\/files\/libusbjava-snapshots\/20090517\/<\/a><\/p>\nInstall libusb driver for Thunder Launcher<\/h2>\n
(source)<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
\nPID = Product ID (2123)<\/p>\nJava Thunder Launcher<\/h2>\n
\nUP = 0x02
\nLEFT = 0x04
\nRIGHT = 0x08
\nFIRE = 0x10
\nSTOP = 0x20
\nLEDON = 0x01
\nLEDOFF = 0x00<\/p>\n