IRIS stands for IR Identification System. This name spans infrared badges, infrared receiver, as well as the corresponding software.
Currently, IRIS receivers can be connected to computers running Windows NT series.
First, plug the receiver into a USB port. Immediately, the receiver's red and green LEDs should light up. Soon afterwards, Windows should pop up a driver installation window. Select the “manual installation” options, and point the dialogs to the file mchpcdc.inf (included in IRIS distribution).
After that the driver has been installed, the red LED should go out, and the green LED should start blinking. It means that the device has been configured correctly. You should be able to use it.
To test the device, simply run demo.bat. It pops up a window displaying the list of currently detected badges.
Note that if you have several USB ports on your computer, you will have to go through these steps each time you wish to use the receiver on a port on which it has never been used before.
| Pattern | Meaning |
|---|---|
| red and green LEDs, static | The driver is not installed |
| green LED blinking | The driver is installed; the device is ready |
| green LED blinking, red LED flashing | The driver is installed, the device is ready, and it is currently detecting infrared signals |
| both LEDs out | The device is not connected, or is out of order |
When you connect the IRIS receiver, Windows emulates a communication (RS-232) port. The receiver uses this communication port to send information formatted as lines of text. You can directly connect to the communication port using any terminal program such as Hyperterminal.
For more information on lower-level layers, please see the technical documentation (in French).
The Java API hides the communication layer. It is enclosed in a iris package. See the Javadoc documentation in the javadoc directory.
The source code is included in the file iris.jar.