Lower Level Classes for Experiments

In looking at the overall structure of what I want to do with experiments and such, I have come up with the following list of lower level classes that need to be developed:

1. SSC-32 Facade - [HW interface] this will be a collection of routines that will be able to get to the execution points for the SSC-32 servo controller.  Specifics:
a. include routines to open / close the connection(s)
b. include routines to read analog and I/O for the digital aspects of the controller
c. include routines to set / read the current pulsewidth of the servo control. since the controls may be made through the Arduino, this facade needs to make sure of being able to proxy the connection to the SSC-32, and this might involve going through the network

2. Pololu Mini-Maestro Facade - [HW interface] this will be a collection of routines that will be able to get to the execution points for the Pololu Mini-Maestro (18) servo controller. Specifics:
a. include routines to open / close the connection(s)
b. include routines to read analog and I/O for the digital aspects of the controller
c. include routines to set / read the current pulsewidth of the servo control
d. since the controls may be made through the Arduino, this facade needs to make sure of being able to proxy the connection to the Pololu Mini-Maestro, and this might involve going through the network

3. Arduino Facade - [HW interface] this collection of routines will utilize the Firmata protocol initially and later will reflect a home grown protocol later on.  The purpose is to be able to access most of the functionality of the Arduino through this interface.
a. general interfacing topics for the Arduino is at http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/InterfacingWithHardware.
b. the Firmata information is at http://firmata.org/wiki/Main_Page.

4. Video Facade - [HW interface] this collection of routines will focus on gathering a video stream and/or information about the video including snapshots and setting webcam parameters.

5. Robot Link Facade - [HW interface] this will be a collection of routines that will be able to move data between various CPUs within the Robot and will include connections to external PCs.  The reasoning for having this Facade is to be able to grab sensor information from a remote source as necessary.

6. Ultrasound Distance Sensor Proxy - since I will not know in advance of where I will connect the Ultrasound sensor, this will utilize the underlying Facades to control and gather information re the sensor.  I want to include calibration routines, setting the servos, reading the sensor, starting/ending sweeps, etc.

7. IR Distance Sensor Proxy - since I will not know in advance of where I will connect the IR distance sensor, this will utilize the underlying Facades to control and gather information re the sensor.  I want to include calibration routines, setting the servos, reading the sensor, starting/ending sweeps, etc.

8. Camera Pan/Tilt Proxy - since I will not know in advance of where I will connect the pan and tilt servos, this will utilize the underlying Facades to control the servos.  I would like to include setting the position of the servos and reading where the servos are, along with calibration routines.

9. Video Stream Proxy - this will pretty much be an interface point to the video stream, no matter where the webcam(s) are placed.  This would include such things as streaming the video between CPUs within the Robot space.

10. Robot Arm Proxy - since I will not know in advance of where I will connect the robot arm servos, this will utilize the underlying Facades to control the servos.  I would like to include setting the position of the servos, getting feedback on other sensors (pressure), and reading the servo positions, along with calibration routines.

I think this is a list that will keep me busy for a while getting ready for the main routines to execute the Robot software.