some help in technical solution

[Omer Zak]

I see two possibilities:
1. Connect the mice to a PC in which the X-Server is not activated.  If
you need to display graphic results, use two networked computers.
2. Use explicit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
>From reading man xorg.conf:
- Disable hotplugging.
- SendCoreEvents off for all identified mice except for one.
DISCLAIMER: I didn't actually try the above.

On Thu, 2011-04-07 at 07:04 +0300, yosi yarchi wrote:
> Hi
> 
> Regarding the solution of mouse or numeric keypad (with USB hubs), I
> have no clear idea about the technical obstacles. I think that main
> ones are:
> 
> (1) bypass X system, and direct the events from particular sources
> (those mouses or numeric keyboards) to my app.
> (2) process the events by myself, with knowledge about the source
> device (the particular mouse or numeric keyboard).
> 
> Have you any ideas regarding available support in linux for (1) and
> (2)?
> 
> With best regards
> Yosi Yarchi
> 
> On 04/06/2011 05:08 PM, Udi Finkelstein wrote: 
> > I think any analog DAQ based solution  will be expensive. Use too
> > many analog levels, and it will not be accurate. Use a small number
> > of levels, and the price per port for analog connection will drive
> > the price too high.
> > 
> > You can try using computer mice.
> > cheap 2 button+scroll wheel starts at 17NIS on zap.
> > Such a mouse can provide at least 5 events:
> > 
> > right button
> > left button
> > middle button (scroll wheel press)
> > scroll up
> > scroll down
> > 
> > You can then take apart the mouse and repackage it, maybe replacing
> > the wheel with 3 distinct switches.
> > 
> > Ofcourse you might need powered hubs if you intend to drive 30 mice.
> > You could try taking eight 4 port unpowered hubs (also starts at 17
> > NIS on zap), and if you computer has 8 free USB ports (many do these
> > days), you could fit 30 mice, and hope that each port can drive 4
> > mice + hub. You will also have  2 spare ports (8*4-30)for the
> > console keyboard/mouse.
> > 
> > Another direction would be to use an arduino board.
> > http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/microcontrollers-arduino-compatible-c-132_133.html
> > The cheapest $19 board has 14 digital inputs plus 6 analog ones
> > which you can treat as digital if you like.
> > 20 input pins can serve 5 users (4 input pins/user) or 6 users (3
> > input pins per user if you wire them smartly - 1 qualifier signal
> > that is grounded by all 4 switches, and 2 more that  are getting a
> > 2-bit binary code.
> > 
> > seeedstudio has free worldwide shipping for orders above $50.
> > 
> > Udi
> > 
> > 2011/4/6 yosi yarchi <yosi.yarchi at gmail.com>
> >         Hi
> >         
> >         This is interesting idea. However, it support voting between
> >         2 options, only, while I need at least 4 options.
> >         I thought that combination of analog DAQ and 4 push buttons
> >         with analog output may help here.
> >         Does someone have an idea about such combination (analog DAQ
> >         +edge unit)?
> >         
> >         With best regards
> >         Yosi Yarchi
> >         
> >         
> >         
> >         
> >         
> >         On 04/06/2011 10:55 AM, Jason Friedman wrote: 
> >         > I think the best solution would be to use a data
> >         > acquisition device, either USB or PCI. 
> >         > 
> >         > 
> >         > Measurement computing sell relatively cheap devices, e.g.
> >         > this USB one for $99:
> >         > http://www.mccdaq.com/usb-data-acquisition/USB-1024-Series.aspx
> >         > 
> >         > 
> >         > can measure 24 digital channels (you could get two if you
> >         > need 30).
> >         > 
> >         > 
> >         > Each "competitor" could have a small switch, which
> >         > connects their input line to say a 5V power supply.
> >         > 
> >         > 
> >         > You can then write a very simple program to detect when
> >         > each competitor presses their switch
> >         > (with sub-millisecond accuracy!).
> >         > 
> >         > 
> >         > These devices apparently have linux support.
> >         > 
> >         > 
> >         > Jason
> >         > 
> >         > On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 2:44 PM, yosi yarchi
> >         > <yosi.yarchi at gmail.com> wrote:
> >         >         Hi all
> >         >         
> >         >         
> >         >         I need application that will be able to collect
> >         >         and process inputs from 30 (!) competitors, and
> >         >         will display the results very fast. The ideal
> >         >         solution could be to collect the inputs via SMS:
> >         >         each competitor send his answer, the application
> >         >         collect the answers (related to phone number) and
> >         >         process them. However, I can't assume that the
> >         >         competitors have mobile phones (they may be little
> >         >         childs...).
> >         >         
> >         >         
> >         >         I thought to use 30 USB numerical keyboards as
> >         >         input devices, connected with cables to 3 hubs,
> >         >         connected to the computer.
> >         >         
> >         >         However, I don't have experience with USB drivers
> >         >         at linux...
> >         >         
> >         >         
> >         >         Is it feasible? What should be the main guidelines
> >         >         for the solution?
> >         >         
> >         >         
> >         >         With best regards
> >         >         
> >         >         Yosi Yarchi

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