From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: border2.nntp.dca1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!usenet.blueworldhosting.com!feeder01.blueworldhosting.com!feeder.erje.net!eu.feeder.erje.net!news.etla.org!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Dmitry A. Kazakov" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: USB Missile launcher Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 21:59:17 +0100 Organization: cbb software GmbH Message-ID: References: <02e31162-4f29-484a-a726-b046b30b6bef@googlegroups.com> Reply-To: mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de NNTP-Posting-Host: Xn+ybM2JynFOXdIT5N5zBw.user.speranza.aioe.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org User-Agent: 40tude_Dialog/2.0.15.1 X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.8.2 Xref: number.nntp.giganews.com comp.lang.ada:190211 Date: 2014-10-29T21:59:17+01:00 List-Id: On Wed, 29 Oct 2014 10:43:09 -0700 (PDT), kadrickhenderson008@yahoo.com wrote: > I have a group project for a senior course at my University. We were > assigned to choose a language and create something meaningful. The > language we chose was Ada. Ada was a language developed for the Department > of Defense, so we felt it would be nice to program a USB missile launcher: > http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/8a0f/ using Ada. Firing at the prof? (:-)) > Can anyone guide me > through the necessary steps to achieve this. We have the hex codes to send > to the device. The device connects to the pc via USB. I have done some > research and found that there is a library for serial port communication > but have yet to find one for usb. USB communication is very different from RS-232 one. > Any advice would be helpful. You need a USB driver for the device and additionally, if exists, the vendor library that talks to the device. It is possible to develop a USB driver if you have the device specification, device class etc. Windows driver developing kit (DDK) is a part of the MSDN subscription. I would not go into it. When the device class is HID you could directly talk to it, e.g. see: http://www.edn.com/design/communications-networking/4336292/Using-the-HID-class-eases-the-job-of-writing-USB-device-drivers P.S. Win32Ada is Ada bindings to Windows API. It comes with GNAT. -- Regards, Dmitry A. Kazakov http://www.dmitry-kazakov.de