PYROCKET(6)

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'.