A proper sequencer for sketching haptic feedback

During my Masters thesis, I built a quick and dirty sequencer to control my haptic feedback units. You can see a video of an early version of the sequencer on this page. It was done in Processing from scratch. I struggle a bit to get the whole package working fast (serial link to Arduino) and smooth (GUI + keyboard controls + xml configs). 

I’ve been looking around for a better/easier sequencer for some months. It was one of the point in my presentation at Sketching08: it would be nice to have nicer software tools to manipulate/control real-world output, an application at the convergence of CAD and robot control. Chris Palmer suggested that I look at various servo sequencing software from Lynxmotion (link). This looks promising but I feel using servo (or PWM) is too limiting for what I want to do. I need to control or drive other things than servos. I’ve looked at various audio applications where sequencing is a core function, but generally they work best or only with MIDI. Arduino can not do MIDI or OSC easily from what I know. I need something that can run with my homemade serial protocol. I also had a quick look at the sequencer offered with the BlinkM from ThingM, but my initial evaluation is that it would require a lot of work to modify for 5-10 different tracks. Maybe I’m wrong…

Last week, I found the nice work of Daniel Thompson where he is using a Maya Python plug-in to control a servo motor (via Arduin0) from Maya (3D application with very good animation capabilities). 

Maya + Python + Arduino + Servo (Part 1)
Maya + Python + Arduino + Servo (Part 2)

I definitely have to look into this. I’m not a big Maya user myself, but I’ve been using Cinema4D a lot over the last few years. I’m wondering if I could build/port something similar to C4D. It would be awsome. Otherwise, I’ll have to dive in Maya again. Or maybe try to do the same with Blender and Python. My short experience with Python this summer turned out to be very enjoyable. I can’t wait to have more time to look into it more. 

I think this mixture of application, 3d software and custom I/O could bring very interesting possibilities for IxD and ID designers. Can you imagine you have a sketched physical model that react and behave in sync with its virtual representation on screen, all in realtime. Lovely!