Charlie Mopps
Member
I'm working on a toy laser blaster for my kid's Halloween costume. I've experience programming, using arduino's, etc... but most of my options were messy and complicated but I found the PropShield. I reviewed the documentation on the website found here: https://www.pjrc.com/store/prop_shield.html
And based on that ordered a Propshield LC and a Teensy LC. So, if you've used these before you probably have an idea of where I'm going with this. I didn't order the LC to save money, I actually didn't even consider the different models. My use case was very simple, he pushes a button, it plays a sound and lights up some WS2812B's and he's got a blaster. I've done a lot of this sort of thing with regular arduino boards, the Teensy is more powerful so... why even bother considered specs?
But that didn't work, and honestly, I spent days trying to figure out why. Even the forum posts I found weren't all that helpful. When I compiled my code, it didn't provide any useful errors either. So I just ended up running in circles for no real reason. Then I found a forum post where someone made the same mistake that I did and people described how to work around all the LC's limitations. Yea no, I just ordered a 3.2 and wished I'd know to do that originally.
The only line on the product page that would suggest there might be a problem reads: "On Teensy LC, the Talkie library can be used for simple voice synthesis." which reads like it's an added feature. From my perspective voice synth is far far more complicated than playing a wav file.
Basically, the Teensy LC probably shouldn't be used with the prop shield. I can think of no use case where it wouldn't horribly cripple the device. I'm sure there's something, but if you're going to use the Propshield for what it was designed for, you definitely don't want to pair it with a Teensy LC.
So that's my suggestion. Update the product page and help files to explain this very clearly. Do not use the propshield with a Teensy LC unless you really know what you're doing. Suggest a recommended platform that could take advantage of the most features, etc... It will lower barriers for noobs like me to get involved in the community, etc...
If this is the wrong sub to post this in, feel free to move it or let me know to repost elsewhere.
Thanks!
And based on that ordered a Propshield LC and a Teensy LC. So, if you've used these before you probably have an idea of where I'm going with this. I didn't order the LC to save money, I actually didn't even consider the different models. My use case was very simple, he pushes a button, it plays a sound and lights up some WS2812B's and he's got a blaster. I've done a lot of this sort of thing with regular arduino boards, the Teensy is more powerful so... why even bother considered specs?
But that didn't work, and honestly, I spent days trying to figure out why. Even the forum posts I found weren't all that helpful. When I compiled my code, it didn't provide any useful errors either. So I just ended up running in circles for no real reason. Then I found a forum post where someone made the same mistake that I did and people described how to work around all the LC's limitations. Yea no, I just ordered a 3.2 and wished I'd know to do that originally.
The only line on the product page that would suggest there might be a problem reads: "On Teensy LC, the Talkie library can be used for simple voice synthesis." which reads like it's an added feature. From my perspective voice synth is far far more complicated than playing a wav file.
Basically, the Teensy LC probably shouldn't be used with the prop shield. I can think of no use case where it wouldn't horribly cripple the device. I'm sure there's something, but if you're going to use the Propshield for what it was designed for, you definitely don't want to pair it with a Teensy LC.
So that's my suggestion. Update the product page and help files to explain this very clearly. Do not use the propshield with a Teensy LC unless you really know what you're doing. Suggest a recommended platform that could take advantage of the most features, etc... It will lower barriers for noobs like me to get involved in the community, etc...
If this is the wrong sub to post this in, feel free to move it or let me know to repost elsewhere.
Thanks!