GPS front end program for Sony PSP (in progress..)

[Art]

Hi Guys,
This is a work in progress. As you can see, Ive connected a Garmin GPS mouse
to a Sony Playstation Portable via a custom microcontroller serial interface.

The big clock screen is of course UTC time, and I have a graphic directional
heading compass where the needle always points North.

I hope to get to the stage of having a moving map on the screen (however
limited my maps may be).

If anyone has a PSP, and is interested in destroying their headphone remote
to aid in the making of a small circuit, let me know and I'll send you details for
you to try it.
Cheers, Art.

[simonsurf]

That's really interesting! Any updates??

[Art]

Hi,
Well I never updated it beyond logging you car's top
speed for any given session, but I have another hardware project
that constantly logs GPS speed anyhow.

A lot of time is consumed with my many other projects, both GPS
related or not:
http://www.freewebs.com/defxev/electronics.htm

If you are a homebrew compatable PSP owner, I suggest you check
out MapThis! by Deniska. (pictured in my car below).
Not the way I'd have gone about a GPS app, (uses image maps
rather than vectors) but very well developed.
Cheers, Art.

[Nicko]

A company in China has produced a GPS that is designed for the PSP called the PSP-290. Details as follows.

http://www.gpstechnologies.com.au/images/psp290.jpg


Key Specifications/Special Features:

The position measurement system GPS which utilizes the radio wave from the satellite (Global Positioning System) in PSP. PSP furthermore evolves conveniently by combining PSP exclusive use GPS receiver with the corresponding software. The various software appear, from practical tool such as navigation software and the action game which utilize the function only of GPS to the game.
The PSP-290 GPS receiver is fairly small. It attaches to the USB port on top of the PSP and is held in place with two screws. The antenna can be placed in several positions whether it be up or closed. Using Deniska's mapthis approximately, it takes about anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes for the GPS Receiver to lock on to some satellites depending on your location. Also, considering mapthis is not by Sony, there will be some issues but Deniska is working hard, day and night to resolve issues
Reception frequency: 1575.42Mhz L1 band, C/A cord/code
Reception method: Channel 20
Reception sensitivity: Pursuit: -153dBm; supplementation: - 140dBm
Determination renewal time: approximately one second
Determination precision: 5m (2DRMS to 130dBm)
Approximately 45 x 41 x 17mm (width x height x depth)
Approximately gross weight: 62g

[michaeld]

and of course its on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Sony-PlayStation-Portable-GPS-Receiver-PSP-Map-Game_W0QQitemZ150146280693QQihZ005QQcategoryZ111815QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Art]

There is a spin off of the above app by the same author Deniska
made for the PSP 290. The company in China are making a "knock off"
The real PSP 290 is a genuine Sony accessory for Sony authorised GPS
applications that never made it outside of Japan.

Bad news, the PSP 290 is way inferior to any serialy connected GPS
device... it's actually better the dodgy hacked up way!
Special considerations had to be made for the app that uses it.
The PSP interferes with it (I think it might be EMI from the LCD backlight or something)

Still using it, many functions are not as convenient to use as a
commercial GPS unit, but it looks as good, and the cool fator is
way up there.
Cheers, Art.

[ChristianV]

Hey Art,

I have a PSP-290 with go!explore software. The software is great, the receiver fairly OK. It's, however, not a GPS with high sensitivity and drops satellites in moderately difficult situations like behind the thermo-shielded windscreen of my car. Other receiver work there.

I'd like to connect a better receiver to the PSP but it must be supported by go!explore, therefore I'd like to connect it to the Mini-USB jack of the PSP.

I did not yet find any info about the interface between the PSP and the PSP-290. Connecting the PSP-290 to a PC USB port didn't bring me anywhere further; no USB device was recognized by the PC.

When the PSP is connected to a PC USB port and I start go!explore then the PC sees a "USB-Accessory" at program startup. I suspect that go!explore configures the USB port to a different mode and then connects to the PSP-290 with some proprietary method.

Do you have any clue what's inside the PSP-290 and how a "normal" GPS receiver (serial or USB) could be connected to the PSP USB jack so that it works with go!explore?

Any help or reference is highly appreciated!
Best regards
Christian

[Art]

It is known in the PSP homebrew community that this won't work
(connecting non standard USB GPS, W3bcam5, mics, etc.)
because in every case of USB PSP accessory, the external USB
device is acting as the USB host, where in the PC world, the USB connected
accessory is acting as the slave.
It is also known that the PSP cannot act as a USB host,
so that makes things very difficult.

[ChristianV]

Hello Art, thanks for your reply and merry christmas!

This brings already some light in. If the PSP is always the USB device, then it would be interesting to connect it to a USB host chip, for example this one: www.vinculum.com

I'd be grateful if you could point to some forums or websites that have already discussed such kind of connection. If you know good places to look at, could you post links here in order to shorten my search path?

Thanks so much!
Christian

[Art]

Most interesting example was the keyboard, mouse, joystick board
all done with a USB host.
It may have been expanded to include some mass storage by now.

http://forums.ps2dev.org/viewtopic.php?t=11001&highlight=