Arduino And Open Sound Control Without An Ethernet Shield

Open Sound Control (OSC) is a communications protocol that can be seen as a modern alternative to MIDI. It’s specifically designed to play nicely with network communication systems. The problem with using it along with Arduino-based gadgets is that you then need to use something like an Ethernet shield to provide the network connection. [Liam Lacey] decided to use Processing as a go-between for OSC and the Arduino in lieu of the Ethernet Shield. One of the major benefits of this method is that it gives you some flexibility when it comes to how the Arduino communicates. Since a USB connected Arduino can be addressed by the Processing sketch in the same way as an AVR chip connected via an RS232 serial port, [Liam’s] method will allow you to prototype on an Arduino board, but transition to your own non-USB hardware for the finished project. The one big drawback to this method is the need to have a computer connected to your controller, but we’d bet you’d need one to run MAXmsp anyway.

7 thoughts on “Arduino And Open Sound Control Without An Ethernet Shield

  1. I am by no means “hating”, but I’ve been doing this for about a year now. I built a crossfader to complement the touchscreen software (touch_mix, also written in processing) I wrote that controls an open source dj’ing app called Mixxx.

    I’ve been actively dj’ing with it for months now.

    I meant to submit it, but never put the final touches on it. (It’s housed in a sparkfun box and wires are secured as well as they could be)

    At any rate, good work.

    -Shyft

  2. i still don’t see the point of osc. midi is still good enough for sending notes.

    if you’re going to send stuff via a serial cable why not do it directly to you max patch?

    or maybe he’s ordered an ethernet sheild and can’t wait for it to arrive!

    1. osc is packets of data over ip.
      its much more easy to use ethernet on a local network.
      every computer hac an interface for ip nowadays
      and the data comes structured (with branches you can redirect)
      you can broadcast to all ip too.
      and you can use wifi.
      and resolution of data is better.

  3. I chose to use OSC as it’s a protocol I almost fully understand, and the data can be sent to/received from other OSC devices like iPhone apps as well if need be. The best system I found for sending data straight the max patch was Maxuino but I couldn’t really get to grips with exactly what was going on in the patch, and I was finding it hard to extract the necessary code into my own patches. If i studied it more and learn more about Max I’m sure it would make sense eventually, but personally using OSC made more sense for me. I’m sure it wouldn’t be the best method for everyone though.

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