Summer Time!

          It's Summer time here in California but it dosen't quite feel that way. There is still plenty of clouds, rain and wind which is putting a stop to flying. On the bright side we have some special events coming up. A couple airshows are coming up soon, including the Ukiah airshow which takes place june 11th. RC airshows include the Dan Sullivan 2011 which happens June 25 and June 26.

         We are also working on some Android apps and a special Minecraft blog called Minecraft Pig. We are working on building an awesome world for download.

Model Indy Car

     Two days ago Indy cars race around Indianapolis for the Indy 500. Today I built a plastic model of an older version of an Indy car. This one happens to be powered by Chevy.

  The finished product. I came with decals but I'm too lazy, maybe in the future.

SwashBlade RC Blog App

   The official SwashBlade RC blog comes to Android with a new client application. This is the same exact application mentioned in one of the previous posts, only this time it has been uploaded to the app market.

Pythagorean Spiral

In math class we have been working on a Pythagorean spiral project. I just now completed mine and had to share it here on my blog.

Construction version.

Colored photo copy

Pythagorean Theorem used to calculate the length of all the hypotenuses.

SwashBlade RC Blog - Android

Okay, so I kinda cheated making this one, but it works! I used an online app creator to make SwashBlade RC blog for Android. Basically you have a shortcut to this blog on your android powered device! Nothing very special, right now you can download it here, this app and a game I created should be available on the market soon.

Processing and Android

      Today I am working on some Android applications with Processing (Programming Language). Because I don't actually have and Android device for testing, and the emulator doesn't really meet testing needs, I might release computer versions first for all of you to test. Computer versions of my applications will have a set window size, 480 pixels one way and 800 another, depending on the correct orientation. For those interested, you can go to the Android page and download the applications for either Windows, Mac or Linux.

   If you find any software bugs please leave a comment on a post having to do with that application or email swashbladerc@rocketmail.com. These computer applications may be released tomorrow, depending on how long it takes me to code them and how great my ideas are. Thank you.

Programming with Processing (Android)

Okay so I finally got the Android emulator working with the processing programming enviroment. You can look up how to do this online, just make sure you download google Android api level 7 from the thrid party tools. Anyways here is a sample sketch I used for running on the Android emulator.

int cx;
int cy;
int w;
int h;
int c;
int cc;
void setup(){
  size(480, 800);
  h = 30;
  w = 30;
  cx = 10;
  cy = 10;
  draw();
}
void draw(){
  fill(cc);
  rect(cx, cy, w, h);
  cx = cx + 30;
  if (cx > 450){
    cx = 10;
    cy = cy + 30;
    if (cy > 760){
      noLoop();
    }
  }
  c = c + 10;
  if (c < 20){
    cc = 0;}
    if (c > 19){
      cc = 255;
      c = 0;}
}

All this really does is draw a checker pattern across the screen, but is a good program to start with. You can also try to change the colors and stuff like that.

Programming with Processing - # 2

So I will probably compile all of these programs and make the available on mediafire. I added to the code in the last code, I simply added the word grey scale in the center of the screen so you know when the program has finished.

int c;
void setup(){
  size (400, 400);
}
void draw(){
  background(c);
  c = c + 1;
  if (c > 255){
    textAlign(CENTER);
    fill(0);
    text("Grey Scale",width/2,200);
    noLoop();
  }
}

So I am sort of going through all of the processing tutorials while at the same time creating my own programs. Later I will possibly create a page dedicated to processing with download links to the full compiled programs and the source files. Enjoi.

Programming with Processing - #1

Right now I am playing around with the processing language seeing what I can do with it so I will probably be posting little code snippets every couple hours or so. Here's one I just wrote up that changes your background from black to white with every color in the gray scale in between.

int c;
void setup(){
  size (400, 400);
}
void draw(){
  background(c);
  c = c + 1;
  if (c > 255){
    noLoop();}
}

Also I finally figured what a bit means, apparently it is a measurement of one binary digit. 8 bits make a byte. All possible combinations in an eight digit binary statement comes out to 256. On the grey scale it starts at 0 and ends at 255. So that's a little explanation on what a bit is and how this simple program works.

First Processing Application

I have written and compiled my first application written in processing. I am sharing this application because it is one of the first ones that I wrote entirely in processing. The application is extremely simple, the program will draw black and white checkers across the screen. I started a program that just tesellated a square and colored one black and one white. Anyway, one nice thing about processing is the ability to compile for multiplatforms. Enjoy.


Checker Program - Mac:
http://www.mediafire.com/?6jkbfgczm4wr74d

Checker Program - Windows:
http://www.mediafire.com/?6xh5v7luy0rm175

Checker Program - Linux:
http://www.mediafire.com/?tjd53ilq326xl13

Yeah!

Processing (Programming Language)

    Recently we were looking to move away from freeBASIC and into a programming language that is more widely used along with the ability to create more complex programs. We were trying to decide between Java and C++ when we came across processing (a programming language).

    Processing is neat because it is similar to Java (based of Java), and has the ability to run 2D and 3D graphics in a very minimal amount of code. Processing applications can also be ran inside a web browser just like any other Java application. More on processing, possibly code samples and computer applications may come in the future. For more on processing click here.