Electronics 2000

Hello All,
You're going to have to forgive me for being naieve here, but I'm quite interested in making a dock for my iPod. There are numerous tutorials in the internet to tell me how to do this, but most seem to point me to the 'iPod Accessory Protocol.' Though I understand which commands I need to send, and how to structure these commands, I unfortunately have no idea what type of chip I need to send the commands to the serial port of the iPod? It has to be able to send command strings such as this one below:

0xFF 0x55 0x03 0x02 0x00 0x01 0xFA
which would Play/Pause the track (source: http://stud3.tuwien.ac.at/~e0026607/ipo ... od_ap.html)

Kind Regards and Thanks in Advance,
Kirkey

Hi,

I'm not familiar with the ipod interface, but the article you linked to says that it uses a standard serial connection (8 data bits / 1 start / 1 stop). It doesn't seem to state the electrical specimfications of the port - it's probably either standard RS232 voltage levels, or more likely TTL (5V) level. There is some more info on the connector pinout at http://pinouts.ru/PortableDevices/ipod_pinout.shtml.

If you are wanting to connect to a computer you simply need a connector lead, including the necessary RS232 transceiver (MAX232) if the voltages used are TTL. All processing can be done on the PC.

On the other hand, if you want to build a stand-along dock, take a look at the PICAXE microcontrollers (http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/picaxe/) for an easy route, or the 8-bit PIC microcontrollers (www.microchip.com) if you want to get more involved. You need a chip with a serial port (USART) and enough inputs and outputs for any pushbuttons, displays etc. that you want.

Hi Again,

Sorry I didn't reply earlier... I read the answer and then forgot about giving you a thanks message. Sorry.

Just as a question about sending the Serial Out (as it's meant to be a stand-alone dock) from the Picaxe, would the funcion I use be 'SEROUT'?

If it is, then I'm really confused about what the manual (http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/docs/picaxe_manual2.pdf page 195) is going on about with 'Baudmode'... Would I need to place # marks around the Serial data to send the iPod functions, or am I completely barking up the wrong tree with the functions, in which case what function do I need?

Thanks Very Much,
Kirkey