Hey,

I'm trying to Engineer a super low cost prototype controller for PD. Currently I understand that in order to interface potentiometers (or any sensor / AD converter) with PD you need at minimum a BASIC STAMP or some other PIC embedded device. My question is, can this be done at a lower level without a micro-controller?

Essentially I just need to send on/off control signals and numbers/values (1-128 for knobs or sliders) for PD to use. Is it possible to send some (non standard) digital signal to PD along a USB - how flexible would this process be?

What is the lowest level signal PD will accept?

Thanks!

Good idea regarding tracking the frequency - I could possibly use a 555 timer which outputs digital pulses according to the POT position. Could I send this data along a USB?

I'm just not clear how flexible PD is in terms of input, someone told me I can send it almost anything....

Yes it is. Not for me, but the device I want to build needs to be around 30$ total (all parts). Plus I love trying to build from scratch without micro-controllers.

Any hardcore circuit geeks with experience doing this from scratch? (connecting a potentiometer to PD?)