\nmtnwestruby: Ruby USB by Michael Hewner
\n16 March 2007\n<\/p>\n
\nNerds love to customize their software — their shell prompt, adding vim plugins, emacs, etc. After a while, they run out of things to customize. What do they do now? Customize USB hardware!<\/p>\n
\nRuby USB is about fun, about controlling USB devices using Ruby. No
\none paid him to work on it. USB devices are self describing. You can even build
\nyour own USB devices, which has nothing to do with Ruby. The most interesting
\nUSB spec is the one for Human Interface Devices. For HID, the device sends a
\ndescription of the format of the data that it’s going to send and what it means
\n— before it actually sends the data. No reverse engineering necessary!<\/p>\n
\nRuby USB simplifies the interpretation of the meta-data coming from a USB
\ndevice.<\/p>\n
\n \nMichael did not write libUSB; his Ruby library merely uses it. It supposedly \nLessons learned:<\/p>\n \nAVRUSB: Build your own custom USB device — requires that you have a soldering iron and an AVR microcontroller.<\/p>\n \nEvdev uses the linux-level USB device layer to let you talk to USB devices. It’s easier to use, more rock solid, but doesn’t let you do as many cool things.<\/p>\n \nQ: Is Ruby USB ruby-thread safe? \nQ: Do you have the ability to send output to USB devices? \nQ: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done with Ruby USB? mtnwestruby: Ruby USB by Michael Hewner 16 March 2007 Nerds love to customize their software — their shell prompt, adding vim plugins, emacs, etc. After a while, they run out of things to customize. What do they do now? Customize USB hardware! Ruby USB is about fun, about controlling USB devices using Ruby. No one … <\/p>\nmouse_interface.all_input_usages => [Button (9)::Button ...]<\/code>
\nkeyboard_interface.all_input_usages # will list ever key available on the keyboard<\/code><\/p>\n
\nsupports all UNIX operating systems, although he’s only tested it on Linux.<\/p>\n\n
\nA: Haven’t tested it. There are probably some bugs.<\/p>\n
\nA: He’s working on it. It’s almost ready.<\/p>\n
\nA: Glued two keyboards together. Made one work for Vi insert mode, and one for Vi command mode. It didn’t work out well because he would frequently type on the wrong keyboard, and because it was too large to fit on his lap comfortably.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"