NAME

       pyrocket - PyGTK control of Striker II and Dream Cheeky USB Missile Launchers

SYNOPSIS

       pyrocket

DESCRIPTION

       pyrocket is used to operate USB foam dart launchers. It supports many models, and for some, has
       considerably more functionality than the drivers provided by the manufacturer. One may find it useful as
       a starting point for controlling other USB devices, or just for waging cubicle warfare.

       pyrocket automatically detects the launcher(s) and a joystick. For a webcam-enabled device, a video
       window is provided.

HARDWARE SUPPORT

       pyrocket has been thoroughly tested on these devices:

       • The Yellow/Red USB Circus Cannon sold by Dream Cheeky.

       • The "original" Green/Black USB Missile Launcher sold by Dream Cheeky.

       • The "webcam" Blue/Black USB MSN Missile Launcher sold by Dream Cheeky.

       • The Striker II USB Laser Guided Missile Launcher sold by Ninja Gizmos

       All  hardware features are supported on these devices, including the Striker II laser control and sensors
       for position extrema on the Dream Cheeky models.

BUGS

       Spontaneous movement on startup
         With a joystick connected, the launcher spontaneously starts moving on startup.   It  does  this  every
         time  the  program  is  run  after  plugging  in  the  joystick,  until any one of the joystick buttons
         (including D-pad) is pressed (this can be done at any time after connecting).  This is probably  a  bug
         in PyGame.

         Workaround: Press any button on the joystick after connecting it to USB.

       Stuck limit switch
         The  "right"  limit-switch  has  been observed to stick in the "on" position.  It remains so even after
         unplugging/replugging the launcher device.  This may be a mechanical issue.

         Workaround: Enable the "Override" feature, then move to the right-most extreme and back again.

       Video doesn't work
         At the time of this writing, the USB webcam packaged with the Dream Cheeky MSN  Missile  Launcher  does
         not   work.    The   vendor/product  ID  as  shown  with  `lsusb'  is  reported  as  0ac8:307b  (Z-Star
         Microelectronics Corp. USB 1.1 WebCam).  This is a problem with the kernel driver.  Hopefully this will
         be fixed soon.

         Workaround: Use a different webcam, possibly attached with rubber bands.  Be creative.

       My gray rocket launcher doesn't work
         The predecessor to the Striker II launcher has the same  VID/PID,  but  uses  different  USB  commands.
         There  is  a program out there called "pymissile" that supposedly supports this launcher.  The original
         Striker launcher accepts batteries and lacks a laser.

AUTHORS

       pyrocket was written by Karl Ostmo <kostmo@gmail.com>.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       Reverse engineering of the USB control messages for each rocket launcher was accomplished with SnoopyPro:
       http://sourceforge.net/projects/usbsnoop/

COPYRIGHT

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  it  under  the  terms  of  the  GNU
       General  Public  License  as  published  by  the  Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your
       option) any later version.

       On Debian GNU/Linux systems, the complete text of  the  GNU  General  Public  License  can  be  found  in
       `/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL'.

                                                   2010-05-26                                        PYROCKET(6)