Ryan Fox

about_me

2010-03-06T20:31:25-04:00

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
- {{http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/664418706/2010-01-28-085559_bigger.jpg}}
+ {{http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/fcc79759f6398caee5df36cde61b36b7.png}}
  
  I'm Ryan Fox, an undergrad student at the [[http://www.uwaterloo.ca|University of Waterloo]].
  
  I'm studying [[http://ece.uwaterloo.ca|Computer Engineering]], with an option in [[http://ugradcalendar.uwaterloo.ca/?pageID=343|Cognitive Science]].

autocomparator

2010-03-13T05:45:33-04:00

@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@
  
  Currently, the documentation is in a PDF because I haven't gotten around to pulling it into the wiki properly.
  
    * {{:how_to_use_the_autocomparator.pdf|How To Use The AutoComparator}}
-   * {{:autocomparator.xls|Download}}
+   * {{:autocomparator.xls|AutoComparator.xls}}

circuit_solver

2010-03-13T05:14:50-04:00

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
  ====== Circuit Solver ======
  
- ==== Code ====
+ I'll write a description at some point.
+ 
+ ===== Code =====
  <code perl>
  #!/usr/bin/perl
  use strict;
  use warnings;
@@ -134,11 +136,11 @@
  # Print the equivalent resistance.
  print abs($solution[$nodes][0]/$solution[$nodes+@components][0]) ."\n";
  </code>
  
- ==== To Do ====
+ ===== To Do =====
    - Use a sparse matrix library. This will likely make things faster and use less memory!
    - Support AC circuits
      * When a capacitor or inductor is seen, take the real value of the impedance as resistance.
      * Need to do a frequency sweep
    - Support transistor circuits
      * Need to find/make a matrix library that will allow adding a variable instead of just a value (dependent voltage sources)

devkitarm_libnds_installer_for_linux_osx

2009-09-09T18:14:32-04:00

@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@
  
  Note: Unless there's a big push for it, I probably won't get around to finishing off the Windows stuff, since there already is a [[http://www.devkitpro.org/downloads/devkitpro-windows-installer/|Windows installer]].
  
  ===== Code =====
+ [[http://code.assembla.com/rfox-ds/subversion/node/blob/libnds-downloader/libnds-downloader.pl|Download]]
  <code perl 1>
  extern>http://code.assembla.com/rfox-ds/subversion/node/blob/libnds-downloader/libnds-downloader.pl
  </code>

directory_annotations

2009-11-08T03:47:11-04:00

@@ -62,21 +62,42 @@
  }
  </code>
  
  And another called ''annotate'':
- <code>
- #!/bin/bash
- echo "$*" >> .ls
+ <code perl>
+ #!/usr/bin/perl
+ use strict;
+ use warnings;
+ 
+ open(my $file, '>>', ".ls") or die("Unable to open .ls");
+ 
+ if(@ARGV)
+ {
+     print $file "@ARGV\n";
+ }
+ else
+ {
+     my @lines = <>;
+     print $file @lines;
+ }
+ 
+ close($file);
  </code>
  
  ===== How To Use =====
  I made these executable, put them on my ''PATH'', (I like to use ''~/.bin/'') and set an alias for ''ls'' in my ''~/.bashrc'' file:
  <code>alias ls='newls --color=auto'</code>
  
- Now, if you want to make an annotation for the current directory:
+ Now, if you want to make an annotation for the current directory, it can either read from stdin, or the command-line:
+ <code>
+ ryan@caffeine:~$ annotate
+ This is my home directory. Whee!
+ </code>
+ or
  <code>
  ryan@caffeine:~$ annotate This is my home directory. Whee!
  </code>
+ (Note, if you're typing at the command-line, you must escape any quotation marks that you want to appear, and enclose many special characters in non-escaped quotes.)
  
  To see your annotations:
  <code>
  ryan@caffeine:~$ ls

ideas

2010-05-04T02:07:03-04:00

@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@
      * text editor
      * allow for custom code to be written (in C?) and then linked into the ROM. Perhaps allow for ROM expansion and replace pointers
      * final "compile" stage might have to calculate a checksum?
  
-   * Extract map data from ROMs to draw them. Why? For fun!
+   * Extract map data from ROMs to draw them. Why? For fun! [[http://www.romhacking.net/docs/dwbytes.txt]]

kirsch_edge_detector

2010-03-02T01:39:49-04:00

@@ -1 +1,6 @@
+ Note: The script is rather slow, and runs for every page view.
  
+ {{http://rcfox.ca/img.png}}
+ {{http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/rcfox/kirsch.pl?img=http://rcfox.ca/img.png&.png?}}
+ 
+ Source: [[http://github.com/rcfox/Kirsch-Edge-Detector]]

linux_development_tools_for_the_msp430_launchpad

2010-07-03T04:25:57-04:00

@@ -1 +1,67 @@
+ ~~NOTOC~~
+ ====== Linux Development Tools for the MSP430 LaunchPad ======
+ {{  :launchpad.png|}}
  
+ Texas Instruments has released the [[http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP430_LaunchPad_(MSP-EXP430G2)|LaunchPad]],
+ a new open-source development board for the value line of the MSP430. The chips aren't very powerful, but at
+ [[http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP430_LaunchPad_(MSP-EXP430G2)#Quick_Links|$4.30]], it's hard to go wrong!
+ 
+ However, they do not give any official support for Linux development. There is already a GCC toolchain for the MSP430,
+ and little-to-no effort is needed to get it working with the LaunchPad.
+ 
+ ===== Getting Started =====
+ ==== GCC ====
+ The [[http://mspgcc4.sourceforge.net|mspgcc4 project]] offers a GCC toolchain targeted at the MSP430.
+ Compared to the (somehow much more visible) [[http://mspgcc.sourceforge.net/|mspgcc project]], it boasts better optimization, and
+ better support for C++.
+ 
+ From the [[http://mspgcc4.sourceforge.net/#building|building]] section, you can get latest version of mspgcc4 with:
+   svn checkout https://mspgcc4.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/mspgcc4
+   cd mspgcc4 && sh buildgcc.sh
+ (For me, the script's default options worked well.)
+ 
+ This will take a while to build...
+ 
+ ==== MSPDebug ====
+ In order to load programs to your board, you'll need [[http://mspdebug.sourceforge.net/|MSPDebug]].
+ 
+ Grab the latest version from the [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/mspdebug/files|Sourceforge download page]].
+ From the [[http://mspdebug.sourceforge.net/download.html|installation instructions]], you can build MSPDebug with:
+   sudo apt-get install libusb-dev libreadline-dev
+   make
+   sudo make install
+ (If you're not running Debian or Ubuntu, you'll need to get libusb and libreadline another way.)
+ 
+ ===== Programming the Board =====
+ ==== Temperature Demo ====
+ The code written for the TI's Windows tools needs to be modified to build with GCC.
+ 
+ For now, I've shamelessly (and without permission) stolen some modified code from
+ [[http://losinggeneration.homelinux.org/2010/07/02/msp430-launchpad-on-linux/|"losinggeneration"]].
+ 
+ You can get it here: {{:temperature-demo.tar.bz2|}}
+ 
+ To build the code, simply run:
+   make
+   
+ You should end up with a file called main.elf.
+ 
+ ==== Loading the Code ====
+ To load the code, run:
+   sudo mspdebug rf2500
+   prog main.elf
+ (If you'd like to be able to run mspdebug without sudo, check the
+ [[http://mspdebug.sourceforge.net/download.html|MSPDebug installation instructions]].)
+ 
+ As soon as you exit mspdebug, the program will start.
+ 
+ ==== Debugging ====
+ Instead of closing mspdebug, you can run the 'gdb' command. This will open a "remote target."
+ 
+ From another terminal, run:
+   msp430-gdb main.elf
+   target remote localhost:2000
+ 
+ Do whatever you might want to do, like setting breakpoints, etc.
+ 
+ Since the program is technically already running on the board, use the 'continue' command to start debugging.

nds_1_dollar_gesture_recognition

2010-03-13T03:32:26-04:00

@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
  {{  :dollar.png|}}
+ 
+ This is a demo of the [[http://depts.washington.edu/aimgroup/proj/dollar/|1$ Gesture Recognition algorithm]], written for the Nintendo DS.
+ 
+ Each gesture is drawn with one stroke. That is, once you lift the stylus, the gesture is done. 
+ The demo is currently trained to recognize the entire alphabet, in the style most similar to how I write. This will probably cause problems for other people...
+ 
+ Also, if you happen to look at the code, I did something pretty terrible: All of the training data has been converted to C++ code, and is #included at the point where it's needed. I realize that this is a bad way of doing things, but I didn't care to figure out how to read files and parse them.
  
    * [[http://rcfox.ca/binaries/dollar.nds|Download]]
    * Source: [[http://github.com/rcfox/NDS-1-Dollar-Gesture-Recognition]]

nds_pathfinder

2010-03-11T21:30:22-04:00

@@ -3,5 +3,6 @@
  Draw a maze, and have the pathfinder app find its way through!
  
  Green shows a location that was considered in the pathfinding algorithm, and blue shows the final path.
  
- Source: http://github.com/rcfox/NDS-Pathfinder
+   * [[http://rcfox.ca/binaries/pathfinder.nds|Download]]
+   * Source: http://github.com/rcfox/NDS-Pathfinder

nds_polynomial_plotter

2010-03-13T02:48:47-04:00

@@ -1 +1,6 @@
+ {{  :polynomial.png|}}
  
+ Tap some points on the screen, and this Nintendo DS demo will draw a polynomial that goes through all of them.
+ 
+   * [[http://rcfox.ca/binaries/polynomial.nds|Download]]
+   * Source: [[http://github.com/rcfox/NDS-Polynomial-Plotter]]

perltex_matrix_manipulation_macros

2010-07-12T16:05:50-04:00

@@ -1 +1,166 @@
+ ===== How to Use =====
+ In Ubuntu, PerlTeX is available in the texlive-latex-extra package.
+   sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-extra
  
+ To compile the document:  
+   perltex --latex=pdflatex matrix_test.tex
+ 
+ ===== Code =====
+ <code latex>
+ \documentclass[12pt]{article}
+ \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
+ \usepackage{parskip}
+ \usepackage{url}
+ \usepackage{verbatim}
+ \usepackage{graphicx}
+ \usepackage{amsmath}
+ \usepackage{perltex}
+ 
+ \title{Document Title}
+ \author{Ryan Fox}
+ \date{\today}
+ 
+ \perlnewcommand{\defmatrix}[2]
+ {
+ 	sub trim
+ 	{
+ 		my $str = shift;
+ 		$str =~ s/^\s+|\s+$//g;
+ 		return $str;
+ 	}
+ 
+ 	use Math::Matrix;
+ 	use Math::Trig;
+ 	
+ 	my ($name, $text) = @_;	
+ 	my @matrix;
+ 
+ 	for(split /\\\\/, $text)
+ 	{
+ 		if(trim($_) ne "")
+ 		{
+ 			my @split;
+ 			for(map {trim $_} split /&/)
+ 			{
+ 				my $tmp = $1 if $_ =~ s/\\//g;
+ 				my $e = eval $_ or eval $tmp or $_;
+ 				push @split, $e;
+ 			}
+ 			push @matrix, \@split;
+ 		}
+ 	}
+     $global{$name} = new Math::Matrix(@matrix);
+ 	return "";
+ }
+ 
+ \perlnewcommand{\printmatrix}[1]
+ {
+ 	my $name = $_[0];
+ 	my @matrix = @{$global{$name}};
+ 	my $text = "\\begin{bmatrix}";
+ 	for my $r (@matrix)
+ 	{
+ 		my @row = @{$r};
+ 		for(my $i = 0; $i < @row-1; ++$i)
+ 		{
+ 			$text .= "$row[$i] & ";
+ 		}
+ 		$text .= "$row[$#row] \\\\";
+ 	}
+ 	$text .= "\\end{bmatrix}";
+ 	return $text;
+ }
+ 
+ \perlnewcommand{\invmatrix}[2]
+ {
+ 	my $name = $_[0];
+ 	my $newname = $_[1];
+ 	my $matrix = $global{$name};
+ 	$global{$newname} = $matrix->invert;
+ 	return "";
+ }
+ 
+ \perlnewcommand{\solvematrices}[3]
+ {
+ 	my $result = $_[2];
+ 	my $matrix1 = $global{$_[0]};
+ 	my $matrix2 = $global{$_[1]};
+ 	$global{$result} = $matrix1->concat($matrix2)->solve;
+ 	return "";
+ }
+ 
+ \perlnewcommand{\multmatrices}[3]
+ {
+ 	my $result = $_[2];
+ 	my $matrix1 = $global{$_[0]};
+ 	my $matrix2 = $global{$_[1]};
+ 	if(ref $matrix2)
+ 	{
+ 		$global{$result} = $matrix1->multiply($matrix2);
+ 	}
+ 	else
+ 	{
+ 		$global{$result} = $matrix1->multiply_scalar($_[1]);
+ 	}
+ 	return "";
+ }
+ 
+ \perlnewcommand{\addmatrices}[3]
+ {
+ 	my $result = $_[2];
+ 	my $matrix1 = $global{$_[0]};
+ 	my $matrix2 = $global{$_[1]};
+ 	if(ref $matrix2)
+ 	{
+ 		$global{$result} = $matrix1->add($matrix2);
+ 	}
+ 	else
+ 	{
+ 		my ($m,$n) = $matrix1->size;
+ 		my @vals;
+ 		for(1..$m)
+ 		{
+ 			my @v;
+ 			for(1..$n)
+ 			{
+ 				push @v, $_[1];
+ 			}
+ 			push @vals,\@v;
+ 		}
+ 		my $tmp = new Math::Matrix(@vals);
+ 		$global{$result} = $matrix1->add($tmp);
+ 	}
+ 	return "";
+ }
+ 
+ \perlnewcommand{\dumper}[1]
+ {
+ 	use Data::Dumper;
+ 	return "\\begin{verbatim}".Dumper($global{$_[0]})."\\end{verbatim}";
+ }
+ 
+ \begin{document}
+ 
+ \defmatrix{test}
+ {
+ 	sin(pi/2) & cos(0) & 0 \\
+ 	2 & -1 & 0 \\
+ 	1 & rand & 1 \\
+ }
+     
+ \defmatrix{test2}
+ {
+ 	(rand()>0.5 ? 1 : 0) & 0 & 1 \\
+ 	0 & 1 & 0 \\
+ 	1 & 0 & 0 \\
+ }
+     
+ \invmatrix{test2}{test2}
+ \addmatrices{test2}{test}{sol}
+ 
+ \begin{eqnarray}
+   \printmatrix{test} + \printmatrix{test2} = \printmatrix{sol}  
+ \end{eqnarray}
+ 
+ \end{document}
+ </code>

resistor_network_generator

2010-03-13T05:00:45-04:00

@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@
  
  You might notice the swapping of node 0 and some other node. This is due to a restriction of the circuit solving method I used, which requires that node 0 be ground. Since I was solving for the resistance between two points, I put a voltage source across them, and then measure the current. To do this correctly, I need to move the ground node around.
  
  ==== Non-Dot-Mode ====
- In non-Dot-mode, the output of the program is similar to [[http://bwrc.eecs.berkeley.edu/Classes/icbook/SPICE/|SPICE]] syntax. The output is usually piped into the [[code:Circuit Solver]].
+ In non-Dot-mode, the output of the program is similar to [[http://bwrc.eecs.berkeley.edu/Classes/icbook/SPICE/|SPICE]] syntax. The output is usually piped into the [[Circuit Solver]].
  
  <code>
  V1 5 0 5
  R1 5 1 1

rpg_aquarium

2010-02-26T02:30:36-04:00

@@ -1,6 +1,35 @@
- <php>
- echo <<< 'EOD'
- <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0HzK-yhYinc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0HzK-yhYinc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
- EOD;
- </php>
+ ====== Introduction ======
+ For me, writing a game is itself a game, or at least an equivalent pass-time. But who has time to actually play games these days? After reading about Squidi's [[http://www.squidi.net/three/entry.php?id=29|Tiny Crawl World]] and [[http://www.squidi.net/three/entry.php?id=70|Tiny World Cities]], I thought it would be neat to make a game that plays itself! Sure, it probably wouldn't be that great to watch or play with, but it sounds like a lot of fun to make!
+ 
+ ====== Behaviour ======
+ Each AI has a stack of goals. Goals might be simple like "Move to (x,y)", "Pickup this object", or complex like "Kill every monster." A goal might have certain conditions. For example, to pick up an object, you must be standing near it. This will add the "Move" goal to the goal stack. Once the "Move" goal has completed, (by moving onto the point specified) the goal is pushed off of the stack, and the "Pickup" goal will be resumed. When the "Pickup" goal has completed, (by picking up the object) the goal is pushed off the stack, and the next goal will be resumed.
+ 
+ There are generic goals too, like "Find". This will find the closest //something//, and apply the specified goal to it, like "Kill" or "Pickup".
+ 
+ Goals can be arbitrarily complex. This makes it easy to give out quests. For instance, a quest could be:
+   - If you don't have a sword, create one.
+   - Kill 10 monsters.
+   - Collect 5 flowers.
+   - High-five someone.
+   - Bring the flowers back to the quest giver.
+ 
+ Each part of the quest may involve adding more intermediate goals.
+ 
+ ====== Videos ======
+ I've made some videos of my AI in action so far. I'm not an artist, so people are blue squares, and monsters/objects are red squares.
+ 
+ ===== Gathering AI =====
+ The goal of these AI is the pick up all of the objects (red squares) and bring them back to the corner. 
+ ==== Dumb Agents ====
+ {{youtube>large:Q-jTfZxv-zU|Gathering AI - Dumb Agents}}
+ ==== A* Agents ====
+ {{youtube>large:_U05ccQ5lsA|Gathering AI - A* Agents}}
+ ==== A* Agents, Sharing Work ====
+ {{youtube>large:ku6fDRV-OGs|Gathering AI - A* Agents, Shared Work}}
+ 
+ ===== Fighting AI =====
+ In this case, the red squares are monsters, which the people have to fight. The people gain levels as they kill monsters, which eventually makes them much more powerful.
+ 
+ {{youtube>large:0HzK-yhYinc|Fighting AI, A* Agents}}
+

schedule_visualizer

2009-11-06T15:36:32-04:00

@@ -45,26 +45,29 @@
  }
  
  $algorithm = ( isset($_GET['algorithm']) ? $_GET['algorithm'] : "fcfs");
  $cpus = ( isset($_GET['cpus']) ? $_GET['cpus'] : 2);  
+ $timeslice = ( isset($_GET['timeslice']) ? $_GET['timeslice'] : 2);  
  
  $selected[$algorithm] = "selected=\"selected\"";
  
  
  echo <<<ENDFORM
- <img src="http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/rcfox/scheduleviewer.pl?manual=$urlinput&cpus=$cpus&algorithm=$algorithm" /><br />
+ <img src="http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/rcfox/scheduleviewer.pl?manual=$urlinput&cpus=$cpus&timeslice=$timeslice&algorithm=$algorithm" /><br />
  
  <form action="" method="get">
  <input type="hidden" name="id" value="$id">
  
  Algorithm:
  <select name="algorithm">
    <option value="fcfs" $selected[fcfs]>First Come First Served</option>
    <option value="sf" $selected[sf]>Shortest First</option>
+   <option value="rr" $selected[rr]>Round Robin</option>
  </select> (More scheduling algorithms to come!)<br />
  
  CPUs: <input type="text" name="cpus" value="$cpus" /><br />
- 
+ Time Slice: <input type="text" name="timeslice" value="$timeslice" /><br />
+ (Some of these parameters will only apply to specific algorithms, and will be ignored for the others.)<br /><br />
  Jobs: <br />
  [Release Time] [Execution Time]<br />
  <textarea name="manual" cols="60" rows="20">$input</textarea>
  <br />

start

2010-07-12T16:01:56-04:00

@@ -21,5 +21,6 @@
    * Miscellaneous Experiments
      * [[Directory Annotations]]
      * [[RPG Aquarium]]
      * [[Linux Development Tools for the MSP430 LaunchPad]]
+     * [[PerlTeX Matrix Manipulation Macros]]

timing_diagram_generator

2009-10-28T11:42:04-04:00

@@ -50,5 +50,5 @@
  ENDFORM;
  
  </php>
  
- Note: This wasn't really meant to be very user-friendly and will blow up at the slightly provocation. Please be gentle.
+ Note: This wasn't really meant to be very user-friendly and will blow up at the slightest provocation. Please be gentle.

weird_circuit_diagram_drawer

2009-10-28T11:14:21-04:00

@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@
  ENDINPUT;
  }
  
  echo <<<ENDFORM
- <img src="http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/rcfox/circuit_drawer.pl?manual=$urlinput">
+ <img style="float:right;" src="http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/rcfox/circuit_drawer.pl?manual=$urlinput">
  
  <form action="" method="get">
  <input type="hidden" name="id" value="$id">
  <textarea name="manual" cols="40" rows="20">$input</textarea>

worst-case_execution_time_analysis_presentation

2009-12-14T05:45:06-04:00

@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
- I gave this presentation in November 2009 for [[http://www.ece.uwaterloo.ca/Graduate/Courses/F09/ece750t22.pdf|ECE 750: Distributed Real-time Software Systems]]. The topic was on Worst-Case Execution Time Analysis in Real-Time Systems.
+ I gave this presentation in November 2009 for [[http://www.ece.uwaterloo.ca/Graduate/Courses/F09/ece750t22.pdf|ECE 750: Distributed Real-time Software Systems]]. 
+ 
+ The topic was on Worst-Case Execution Time Analysis in Real-Time Systems.
  
    * Presentation
      * {{:wcet.pdf}}
      * {{:wcet-print.pdf}} (No overlays - better for printing)
  
    * Source
      * [[http://github.com/rcfox/Worst-Case-Execution-Time-Analysis-Presentation]]