A barcode reader via the expansion port?

[Pixelboy]

How hard would it be to create a barcode reader expansion module? I assume the ColecoVision expansion port could provide enough electrical power for the reader to operate, but I wonder how the reader and the game cartridge would "talk" to each other. Does anyone here have experience with interfacing that kind of hardware?

 

In terms of software, a "Barcode Battler" game seems like a no brainer, but I think I would prefer something closer to Pokemon. Either that or a dungeon crawler similar to Crypts of Chaos on the Atari 2600: Just take the barcode from any commercial product, and see what kind of character you get after the barcode reader module reads it.

 

I could also imagine a racing game where the barcode specifies the attributes of your race car. Or a horse racing game where the barcode influences the stats of your horse. Or perhaps some kind of boardgame that makes use of the barcode reader to spice things up somehow. Or a hacker-type game where barcodes serve as keys to open up new areas of cyberspace (meaning that the numbers encoded in the barcode would serve as a randomizer seed from which an entire game level would be created).

 

Whatever the game could be, it would be built around the concept of trying barcodes from everyday products just to see the results, and the result would always be the same for a particular barcode.

[PkK]

How hard would it be to create a barcode reader expansion module? I assume the ColecoVision expansion port could provide enough electrical power for the reader to operate, but I wonder how the reader and the game cartridge would "talk" to each other.

 

Uh, what's the problem with the obvious way of just having the barcode reader interface in the I/O or memory space of the system? You'd access it like any other peripheral hardware (sound chip, graphics chip, whatever).

 

Philipp

[Pixelboy]

Uh, what's the problem with the obvious way of just having the barcode reader interface in the I/O or memory space of the system? You'd access it like any other peripheral hardware (sound chip, graphics chip, whatever).

 

I understand that it's a relatively simple thing for someone who knows about this stuff, but I'm no expert by any means. On a Windows machine, exchanges between the OS and peripherals are usually done via COM ports (or USB ports with more modern hardware), and there's an underlying communication protocol to that. Since the CV hardware has no notion of comm protocols, I would guess that one would have to be devised (within the game cartridge) for communicating with a barcode reader?

[ColecoDan]

The barcode reader is just simplistic device that on a windows machine needs a dll or a downloade font to properly show you the scan coming from the barcode reader. So you need your java, c++, or assembly language to accomplish the same task as that dll or font to convert the scan into the barcode representation. Now that these things are on the smart phones there is probably a ton of code examples or things that you could use. Now actually getting it to link to the cv or soldering it to a board that could be added to the cv is a different story. Some hardware guy would have to help with that.

[+nanochess]

In fact I've saw several barcode readers with PS/2 keyboard interface that indeed share the cable with a common PC keyboard.

 

So if someone can develop an interface for Colecovision to use a PS/2 keyboard then the same could be easily used for a barcode reader.

[Pixelboy]

In fact I've saw several barcode readers with PS/2 keyboard interface that indeed share the cable with a common PC keyboard.

 

So if someone can develop an interface for Colecovision to use a PS/2 keyboard then the same could be easily used for a barcode reader.

 

Very interesting. But I was asking theoretically. There's no real incentive to do a barcode reader expansion module, even if someone was to program a great game that would make use of it. It would just be too expensive to create the electronics, the plastic casing (although I suppose the SGM's casing could be reused, with some extra holes cut into it) and a pack-in killer-app.

[NIAD]

Stop the boat! Put the SGM on hold and let's add a BarCode Reader to it otherwise we're going to have to make a Multi-Unit Interface Cable or worse, a large Multi-Unit case in order to connect all these devices at the same time to the Expansion Bus.

[Pixelboy]

Stop the boat! Put the SGM on hold and let's add a BarCode Reader to it otherwise we're going to have to make a Multi-Unit Interface Cable or worse, a large Multi-Unit case in order to connect all these devices at the same time to the Expansion Bus.

 

 

[hardhat]

The answer is for sure the remarkable cuecat barcode reader, which was basically given away to many people. It can read barcodes and outputs PS/2 keyboard or USB signals. Those in turn could be input into the memory space of a special cartridge or they could be attached to the joystick port perhaps, or they could be attached to the expansion bus.

 

Personally I'd prefer to attach them to the joystick port. So maybe with a Y splitter and a little microcontroller to buffer the PS/2 signal output, then generate interrupts (spinner style) to transfer the scanned code over the keypad interface.

 

Here are some cuecats on ebay. Usually less than $10. But if you buy 100 of them, they are only about $5 each:

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.ca%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_trksid%3Dp5197.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3Dcuecat%26_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40

 

Then they have built in the smarts to read UPC codes, and you can try the creatures that result. Sound like fun. Tricky to game balance perhaps. But I think there are options there.

[hardhat]

I've been thinking more about this project, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. Over the winter I may try to make some test hardware to see if my proposed interface will do the trick.

 

As for the pack in game, I have two ideas:

1. a racing game, where the map is determined by the barcode that you read. It would include bar codes for a couple of easy maps, and a challenging map. Every order would ship with a custom barcode that would give that user a unique map (to share and trade).

 

2. a fight/exploration game, where the barcode would determine the attributes of a playable character, and their native domain. Inspired by the skylanders craze on more recent platforms.

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

This is a very interesting concept, very unique Imo. I may study up a little on this as well..