Length of your writting lets me think that you did finish the stenotype :)
10. března 2015 22:44:09 SEČ, [email protected] napsal:
>Right now I am deep in a project which I refer to mentally as the
>Keyback
>Steno. It is a keyboard like this one http://stenoknight.com/demo.html
>
>which has electromagnetically locking keys. As you can see in the photo
>of a
>traditional stenotype keyboard, the keys are on levers. If it were
>possible
>to hold one end of the lever with an electromagnet while the key was in
>its
>down possition, then I would be able to controll the keys release
>programatically. If all the keys were held down, than I could
>programatically command some of the keys to pop up. This would allow
>the
>keyboard to function not only as an input device, but also as a device
>for
>displaying text. Since one can type on a stenotype keyboard at 250 WPM
>than
>it is reasonable to assume that reading on such a keyboard could be
>accomplished at a similar or higher rate of speed. Theoretically
>speaking,
>this should allow me to create a low cost and useful haptic device
>which
>could compete with the overpriced braille displays used by blind people
>
>today.
>
>Unfortunately, stenotype keyboards cost around $4000 a peice today. If
>I
>were to approach design, development and production with the same
>mindset as
>those companies which produce such costly stenotype keyboards, I would
>do
>visually impaired individuals no good. But when you examine the parts
>involved, it seems like an unreasonable price. One begins to think to
>themselves "What parts really are involved in making such a keyboard?"
>"I
>could do that cheeper."
>
>Over the past months, I have spent a lot of time on youtube and I have
>learned a lot about manufacturing. I have learned that one of the key
>reasons that products like stenotype keyboards cost so much is that
>they are
>designed by people who do not understand the costs involved with the
>various
>manufacturing techniques. They use large injection molded plastic
>parts,
>which are reasonable to use only in large production volumes, when it
>would
>have been cheeper for them to use more expensive, higher quality (and
>therefore easier to work) materials such as sheet metal, wireforms,
>lasercut
>foam, and woods.
>
>If I were to attack the problem of designing a keyback steno keyboard
>with
>the mindset of most companies in the area, I would be interested in
>building
>up a set of tools. The first thing I would do is I would purchase Solid
>
>Works in order to model my keyboard. I don't know how much SolidWorks
>costs
>because THEY DO NOT LIST A PRICE ON THEIR WEBSITE! I would need to
>purchase
>a new computer and that would cost me around $700-1500, the computers I
>have
>do not run SolidWorks. Howerver, I would tell myself that the purchase
>of
>SolidWorks and the computer was a cost saving, because it would save me
>
>money on prototyping. Afterall, with SolidWorks, one can model their
>designs, measure mechanical forces, ect all without every having to
>build a
>prototype.
>
>I would also hire a number of engineers who were capable of telling me
>the
>mechanical properties of the materials I was using, so that we would be
>able
>to optimize the weight and cost of the materials. This would also be a
>cost
>savings, because the engineer would prevent unecesary rounds of
>prototyping
>and we would be able to design a product with overall lowered material
>cost.
>
>I would also bring in outside consultants for designing the
>electromagnets,
>as they are far from standard, an outside computer programming
>consultancy
>to write firmware and drivers, as well as outside consultants to run me
>
>through CE certification.
>
>Going along with the "good tools" philosophy, I would buy the 10 000
>EUR (I
>had to ask, the price is not on their website) LPKF ProtoMat S43
>http://www.
>lpkf.com/products/rapid-pcb-prototyping/circuit-board-plotter/protomat-s43.
>htm along with their 10 000 EUR mutlilayer press in order to prototype
>the
>circuit boards which will have my special electromagnets printed on
>them. I
>would also consider this to be a cost savings, because prototyping
>specialty
>multilayer circuit boards is famously expensive.
>
><crossed out>Finally, I would end it all of with a tens of thousands of
>
>dollar stratasys 3D printer in order to prototype the chassi and other
>parts.</crossed out> Finally, I would purchase a high powered laser
>cutting
>system (this is something that is surprisingly easy to find the price
>of, 40
>thousand euros and up to cut metal), as well as a small manual sheet
>metal
>bend press (10 000 euros, the full CNC ones are 100 thousand euros and
>up
>and are actually more expensive than laser cutters). I would also need
>a
>quality drill press with a high powered spindle (500 euros). And for
>all my
>prototypes, I would need to source materials in low quantities, which
>would
>end up costing me many hundreds of euros in shipping fees and sample
>pack
>fees.
>
>In the end, I would have invested hundreds of thousands of Euros in
>research
>and development, I would have outside investors to please, and there
>would
>be no way that my low cost haptic computer system would be anything
>like low
>cost, and it certainly would not be open source.
>
>HOWEVER:
>
>While it is nowere near the quality of SolidWorks, there is a program
>called
>FreeCAD which can replace it to some degree. FreeCAD is free and open
>source, and it exists because some people chose not to pay up for
>SolidWorks
>and decided to design an free open source cad project instead.
>
>In place of an army of engineers, I have this recent invention called
>the
>internet. It's not perfect, but it's WAY cheeper! In the end, I almost
>certainly will pay someone with experience to look over my plans, but
>there
>is a huge leap between a short consultation and employees. The open
>nature
>of the hackerspace and the open source / free software comunity as a
>whole,
>is on my side however. I can talk about my project to anyone, and I
>have
>already received loads of valulable feedback, absolutely for free!
>
>As for the software, there are already free open source libraries for
>stenography, and there is already a driver framework (brltty) which
>will
>alow me to complete everything without writting more than a few hundred
>
>lines of code. If I were developing my product like the companies
>described
>above, I would imediately reject this oportunity, however, as the
>libraries
>in question are GPL and it would mean I would lose controll of my
>"intelectual property".
>
>The protomat router for making precice PCB prototypes is a more serious
>
>problem for me. I have thought about purchasing it. It is VERY
>difficult to
>achive the level of precision that they claim. However, there are a
>number
>of open souce router projects, and these projects did not come to exist
>due
>to people saying "well I can just buy the LPKF machine". They came to
>exist,
>becuase they looked at the LPKF machine and said "it's 10 000 euros,
>requires Windows, and it's not open source, I'll try to do it myself".
>And
>if I go with one of these router projects, I will most likely be able
>to
>both cut out sheet metal parts and mill circuit boards on the same
>machine
>(though the curcuit boards will have a higher minimum trace size than
>on the
>LPKF... ).
>
>As for the 3D printer, yes, you can buy cheep 3D printers today. You
>can do
>so BECAUSE the reprap project exists. Untill reprap came about, 3D
>printers
>were so expensive that they were out of reach even of most comercial
>labs.
>It is only thanks to the likes of Prusa and Ax that we can even have
>the
>discussion about whether the fabtotum should be bought!
>
>--------------------------------------------
>
>All this said, free open source software like FreeCAD is written on
>computers, and most of that silicon is closed as closed can be. It was
>only
>thanks to tools like the closed sorce definitely not DIY processors by
>Intel
>that FOSS like FreeCAD can exist. And Prusa printed the Prusa on a
>definitely not DIY printer himself.
>
>I agree with you generally that we need quality tools. But I also
>strongly
>believe that throwing out the DIY mentality loses many of the positive
>aspects of the hackerspace. It can even lead to ruin of sorts. The ruin
>I am
>talking about, is when people start buying into comercial tools which
>are
>imperfect (and believe me, comercial tools are imperfect too) then they
>
>start developing those tools. This is what I call a captive comunity. A
>
>captive comunity, is when a comunity of well meaning developers begin
>building a comunity of free content on top of a close
>source/proprietary
>base. A classic captive comunity is that of EagleCad. A significant
>portion
>of EagleCad's value comes from the efforts of people in the EagleCad
>community and not from the firm itself. If those efforts had all been
>directed towards KiCad or some other open source alternative, the world
>
>would be a much better place. Open source effort built attop
>proprietary
>platforms helps those platforms for free while doing the DIY community
>a
>great harm.
>
>Even just using a product, without actively working on it, helps that
>product, by increasing general knowlege of the product in a community
>and
>providing ample oportunities for yourself to provide free technical
>support
>to the users of that product. For example, on c-n-c.cz it is far easier
>to
>get free technical support using the closed source software Mach3 than
>the
>open source software LinuxCNC. By choosing the convenient an "quality"
>ready
>built software solution, the c-n-c.cz community has promoted a less DIY
>
>solution over a more DIY solution thus making it harder for the open
>source
>solution to gain foothold.
>
>I agree with you generally, that brmlab could use some more good tools.
>
>However, I wory that if we invest too heavilly in proprietary
>soloutions,
>brmlab will lose its value. Brmlab shouldn't exist to build captive
>comunities for companies like EagleCad who wish to get free work done
>by
>enthusiests. Brmlab should exist for its own purposes and for the
>purposes
>of promoting the DIY and open source communities as a whole.
>
>----------------------------
>
>From the open source standpoint, fabtotum is a rather concerning
>project.
>They claim that they are open source, however they use a creative
>commons
>NON COMERCIAL license for everything they publish. This means, that
>their
>work cannot flow back to other open source projects. It also means that
>they
>cannot legally accept patches without contributors signing a dead tree
>contributors agreement. Though I bet they don't realise that aspect of
>their
>licensing decision.
>
>-----------------------------
>
>In conclusion, I think that brmlab SHOULD invest in more quality tools.
>We
>don't even have a full sized drill press, and throughout the reprap
>project
>we have been cutting threaded rod with a rotary sander for want of a
>table
>saw! However, I also agree with those who are sceptical of giving up
>our DIY
>attitude for more complex equipment.
>
>There's also another thing to consider. I thought for a little bit,
>about
>maybe buying the LPKF router and putting it in BRMLAB. Afterall, I
>certainly
>wouldn't find use for it 24 / 7. But I quickly set asside the idea.
>There is
>no way in hell I'm ever going to bring a 10 000 euro peice of equipment
>to
>brmlab and leave it lying around. It would almost instantly get
>destroyed or
>stolen!
>
>Tim
>
>
>---------- Původní zpráva ----------
>Od: Mario Lombardo <[email protected]>
>Komu: Brmlab: Hackerspace Prague, (main discussion) <[email protected]>
>Datum: 10. 3. 2015 19:25:50
>Předmět: [Brmlab] Fabtotum
>
>"
>Dear BRMlab,
>I have expressed interest many times, both publicly and privately, that
>it
>is vital to have reliable and quality tools. At the time of the
>Fabtotum
>crowd funding campaign, a year or so ago, the 3D printer we had in the
>lab
>needed constant tuning, we didn't have an optical 3D scanner, nor a
>milling
>machine. A member even said it goes against the spirits of a
> hackerspace to
>buy such a tool. Yet back then, in my experience with using the 3D
>printer
>it proved it wasn't a reliable tool nor a quality tool of its rank.
>Even so,
>almost a year later, we still don't have an optical scanner nor milling
>
>machine. Does our 3D equal in quality of the Fabtotum? If not, who will
>take
>the time to improve it or make a new and better one? Will we approve
>such an
>expense and time? As of now, we still have a down larger 3D printer, so
>what
>of it?
>
>The downfall of poor quality tools is that they slow progress and
>stifle
>creativity. As hackers and makers, we have enough obstacles to overcome
>than
>let a tool deceive or encumber vital steps in a process or discovery--
>testing and measuring equipment at the top and prototyping equipment
>second-
>-both vital nonetheless.
>
>My idea was to help us. b00lean expressed interest in such vision and
>so did
>a small minority, so a small pool of us gathered and helped purchase a
>future unit.
>
>Sadly, much time has passed, even more than anticipated, yet the
>question
>remains, would BRMlab desire, care, and utilize such a tool? At this
>time, I
>would like to hear more voting and financial support than voiced we,
>the
>original party. For if not, then it can go with General Bytes because
>b00
>lean seems to like it. If any members are bashing the tool, I would be
>curious if they have firsthand experience? If not, part of the effort
>in
>acquiring the Fabtotum was that "it could" do all of the proposed feats
>it
>its capacity. We believed just as we might believe in something else,
>like
>purchasing the SDR and finally much later a member is able to make an
>incredible GSM device.
>
>As a consensus, however BRMlab votes this evening, I will __abstain__
>and
>hope for this tool or some tool some BRMlab collective deem worthy of
>our
>respect, care, and use. We need better tools, and I was hoping for this
>one.
>Just think about us and not your ego--to build one as a hack project.
>That
>has always been an option, but can you rely on what it makes? A good
>tool
>will deliver. A hack will mostly deliver an accomplishment or proof-of-
>concept that is itself. That's wonderful but wildly different from the
>mark
>of a tool. Both have merit, but whether both should occupy the same
>desktop?... Hmm.
>
>I've made both, and the one thing that annoys me in making a tool, is
>that
>I've got to be bitching accurate in every way, letting no computation
>be an
>error or succumb to its duplicity tenfold. Otherwise, I'd keep a
>rubbish bin
>nearby my knee and simply push the craft to its demise... "Do over!"
>
>
>
>
>On Monday, March 9, 2015, b00lean <[email protected]> wrote:
>"
>
>
>Ahoj,
>
>Minuly tyden v pondeli dorazil Fabtotum ( http://www.fabtotum.com/
>(http://www.fabtotum.com/) ), ktery jsem objednal a zaplatil 10.10.2013
>
>(celkem 21 463,67 CZK )
>
>Zatim jsem ho nerozbalil.
>
>
>
>V rijnu 2013 jsme se dohodli, ze se na fabtotum slozime a moje firma
>doplati
>zbytek ( http://brmlab.cz/project/fabtotum
>(http://brmlab.cz/project/fabtotum) )
>
>K prispevku se prihlasili nasledujici:
>
>
>
>mario 1000 CZK
>
>pasky 1000 CZK
>
>pborky 1000 CZK
>
>JoHnY 1000 CZK
>
>niekt0 1000 CZK
>
>Ondrej Mikle 1000 CZK
>
>Eliáš 1000 CZK
>
>b00lean doplati zbytek.
>
>
>
>Na zminovany ucet(na strance) dorazila pouze jedna platba ( 1 000 Kč -
>Ján
>Teluch - nevim nick asi JoHnY)
>
>Nekteri ze zminovanych mi dali penize hotove (vubec uz nevim kdo ale
>asi jen
>2 lide) nebo je vubec neposlali.
>
>
>
>Od doby objednani Fabtotum a jeho doruceni se zmenilo hodne predevsim
>vsak
>to, ze jiz nejsem clenem brmlabu, nemam do neho pristup a je mi lito
>zaplatit za fabtotum tolik ze sveho a nechat ho v brmlabu k
>"opotrebeni/
>rozbiti" lidmi, kteri na nej neprispeli a tudiz k nemu ani nebudou
>pristupovat s patricnou odpovednosti.
>
>
>
>Navrhuji nasledujici reseni:
>
>A. Fabtotum si ponecham a vyplatim ty, kteri prispeli.
>
>B. Brmlab odkoupi Fabtotum za zbytkovou cenu ze svych penez (zaplati
>zbytek
>me).
>
>C. Najde se v radach brmlabu dostatek dalsich lidi, kteri na pristroj
>prispeji tak aby brmlab nemusel nic odkupovat, nebo brmlab doplati
>mene.
>
>
>
>Prosim o vase konstruktivni reakce a komentare,
>
>b00lean
>
>
>
>
>
>
>"
>
>
>--
>>>sent from mobile<<
>
>_______________________________________________
>Brmlab mailing list
>[email protected]
>https://brmlab.cz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/brmlab"=
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>Brmlab mailing list
>[email protected]
>https://brmlab.cz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/brmlab
--
Sent from phone
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