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Getting Started

An overview of what mchelper does.

mchelper (Make Controller Helper) is an application that runs on your desktop and helps work with your Make Controller(s).  The main functions it serves are:

  • Send manual commands to the Make Controller over USB and Ethernet.
  • Provide a quick glance of some of the board's important properties.
  • Upload new firmware to your Make Controller.
  • Provide a bridge for Flash movies (or other XML based apps) to communicate with the Make Controllers currently connected.

 

The very first step, of course, is to download mchelper - check the Downloads page for the latest version.  This guide assumes that:

  • You're running mchelper 2.5.0 or later on your computer.
  • You're running Heavy 1.6.0 or later on your Make Controller.

Main View

The main view in mchelper shows:

  • A list of connected Make Controllers - on the left, this window shows all Boards (both USB and Ethernet), showing first their name and then their location.  The icon indicates whether a board is connected via Ethernet or USB, and the IP address of the board is listed.
  • The activity window - shows a transcript of all the messages going to and from the boards.  Each message includes the time it was sent or received, the contents of the message, and either its destination or source.
  • The text entry line, at the bottom, is where to type new OSC messages to the board.  Either press the "Send" button to send it, or simply press return.  Messages get sent to the board that's currently selected in the list on the left, so first click on the board you'd like to send the message to, then enter your message and send it.  For more info about OSC and what kind of messages you can send - check out the OSC tutorial.
mchelper dialog
The mchelper main view


Messages in the dialog window are color-coded to indicate where they came from:

  Blue messages are messages that you've typed in and sent to a board.
  White messages are responses coming back from a board.
  Orange messages are responses from the board that contain error information.
  Red messages indicate an error within mchelper itself.
  Green messages are messages from Flash (or anything else connected to mchelper's XML server).
  Gray messages are info or status messages from mchelper.

 

Board Actions

In the list of Boards on the left, you can right click them to see more options to interact with them.  These options are also available from the Board menu item.

If the board is running an OSC-enabled application (like Heavy), you can:

  • reset the board - the board will reboot itself and start running agin
  • prepare the board to have a new application loaded - click 'erase board' and the board will erase itself, disconnect, then reconnect as an "unprogrammed board" ready to have a new application loaded onto it.  If you have a v1.0 Controller Board (v1.1 or later is ok), this will not work and you'll need to manually short the erase pins to prepare it for upload.
  • view the Inspector - see below.
Once you've erased the board, the right click menu will give you the option to upload a new firmware application instead.  For details on the upload process, jump to the next page of this tutorial.

Inspector

mchelper summary
The mchelper Inspector

The Inspector provides a quick look at some of the important pieces of information about the currently selected board:

System
    • Name - each Make Controller can be given a unique name.  This field is editable within mchelper - simply type in a new name.
    • Serial Number - each Make Controller should have a unique serial number.  This is used mainly to create a unique Ethernet address for each board - boards on the same network must all have different serial numbers to work properly.  This field is editable - simply type in a new serial number.
    • Version - shows the version of the firmware running on your Make Controller, "Heavy 1.6.2", for example.  This is not editable.
    • Free Memory - shows the free memory available on your board.  This is not editable, and is usually only helpful as a diagnostic when writing your own programs for the Make Controller.
Network
    • IP address - the network address of the currently selected Make Controller.  This is editable - type in a new address to set it.  However, if DHCP is selected this will have no effect.
    • Router - the address of the router the board is currently using.  This is editable - type in a new rounter to set it.  If DHCP is selected this will have no effect.
    • Mask - the currently selected board's network mask.  This is editable - type in a new mask to set it.  If DHCP is selected this will have no effect.
    • OSC Listening Port - the port that the board is listening on for incoming OSC messages.
    • OSC Sending Port - the port that the board will send outgoing OSC messages on.
    • DHCP - whether the board is using DHCP.  DHCP allows the Make Controller to automatically get an address when connected to a network.  This is generally recommended, unless you're connecting the Make Controller directly to your computer.

Each of these properties corresponds to an OSC message that you can send manually to the board if you like.  The Inspector is a convenience for viewing and editing some of the most common ones.
 

Help

Posted by Ryan Bracey at Nov 25, 2008 06:16 PM
I connected my Make Controller Board to my computer by way of the direct connect, not connecting over the network. I got it connected and my computer recognizes it but in the mchelper it doesn't show up.
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