Implemented VixenConsole command line interface application for direct playback. Ref: 12f190bfdbe81205838e808cb86fa7f3a8f2039f

It uses slightly modified Vixen.dll from the original codebase for module loading and execution pipeline.

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To search DLLs in another directory for

Type.GetType()

e.g. (From Modules/Controller/TCPLinky.dll loaded using Assembly.LoadFrom)

Type.GetType(“VixenModules.Output.TCPLinky.TCPLinkyData, TCPLinky”)

Add following to app.config:

                          

Ref: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/.../load-contexts-and-type-gettype/

All spring term exams finished.

Demonstrated VixenLinky on 4 different platforms: Linux NAS server Raspberry Pi 3 Noah NP1380

Supervisor was not in the college today, possibly because of bank holiday.

I have implemented a simple console application (VixenLinky) that reads and transmits channels of the dumped data through TCP, using C#. Ref: 172359860efc8cc093e252b73ec0ed3a408a285f

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Finished advanced computer architecture exam.

Implemented a TCPLinky only controller host on Noah NP1380 with Qt2 based GUI, just for fun. (Alternative implementation) Ref: cdb62596a3e5f42a97a0473078176b272d620eb5

With 50 fps refresh rate, it uses ~50% CPU time. It keeps constant target fps most of the time, drops frames very rarely, which is perfectly acceptable.

No more project meetings until May, due to Easter holiday.

Finished interim report. Ref: ef9731bd5e714cc4c22ded48d857eb41fc868a1a

No significant progress due to exams and coursework.

Added the playback engine into show scheduler. Ref: a7c20d5f079fca3e2f1614914c10f7ff3cd1e3ed

Change to use XmlSerializer to interpret controller network XML, simplified the code and possibly improved performance. Ref: b0e450c9cf6eaaf848f53eb2fa1e106e1860a500

Requested a Raspberry Pi 3 for alternative embedded platform (Linux implementation and performance comparison).

Interim project report due on 17/Mar/2017, 2 pages.

Export media file information with controllers in *_Network.xml, added media file loading and playing in the playback engine.

Ref: 3d8d667e082329f1a24ca913dd6278e6d2c184a6 Ref: 8caac879006aa7269fec841333b62e1ef02ade0e

Project meeting @20/Feb/2017 cancelled due to no significant discoveries. Supervisor was not in the college @27/Feb/2017.

I added a spearate playback path to Vixen, and successfully playback the exported sequence to the controllers. The application uses only ~6% CPU time with 50 FPS playback. All active controllers are running at their specified frame rates too.

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Using the export function from sequence editor, all output channels from all controllers can be exported with specific time interval.

The timebase used for exportation was a manual timebase, so the exported output interval is kept constant and unrelated to export time.

The export pipeline only supports 8-bit commands, might be a potential problem?

Another export format was implemented, to match the playback format used in TCPLinky controller. Ref: 830a17bb445aab1c98ddd44540cc77a0b701177b

The resolutionComboBox in the original application can only specify a time interval of 25, 50 or 100 ms. It was modified to allow custom values. Ref: e882fd9d429b9c00a0fd549e46805058c82849b2