tech.faħmu.net

Working on an accessibility solution for a motion-impaired friend (stroke). He currently does not have any efficient way to communicate, although he can see and hear well. Last Sunday I let him try out an unattached USB joystick, just to see if the range of motion was acceptable.. and it was. Hopefully sometime this week or next I will meet with him and try out a little hypercard (!) stack that I wrote to allow simple input.

I’m looking at a Palm or Windows CE solution for the hardware

Mac Mini Suitcase

US$20 suitcase: 12×25x20 inches. Mac mini. Wireless bluetooth keyboard. Power strip and cord. Flat screen. Case for CDs. Cheap speakers.

Result: instant mobile computer setup!

Hey, the type basket is back together! that’s about 100 pieces there. Click to see other parts with descriptions.

Starting re-assembly.. part count wise, this is a pretty sizable chunk. UPDATE Yay! I have all of the major pieces.. missing 1 lockwasher and 1 round washer/spacer thingy.. but I have all the letters and springs and levers. I’ve started to reassemble the type basket..

I have four done so far, and it’s moving VERY smoothly.. sweetness.. the typebasket was very tight before, full of ink and grime. I think most of the rest of the tty seems to be OK. Here is the game plan:

0. sleep

1. finish the type basket

2. go to OSH and get some replacement parts

3. take the top part apart and check the wiring.. replace anything that’s bad, and SIMPLIFY the wiring a bit. I’m not going to be a historical stickler about this, I’d rather rig it up and have it working first before worrying about whether it is legal to use on the TWX system.

4. profit?!! ha..

5. check the motor separately.. above comment aside, I’d hate to have to put a fake motor on

6. do a quick run over the other moving parts, check for grease.. they all seem to be doing OK actually.

7. reassemble lower parts.. check the encoder section to see if it is working. I don’t think I will take the input buffer/shift register/accumulator part apart, it seems to be working OK..

8. reassemble top section.. I’m going to just get some stamp pad ink and reink the ribbon for now.. the thing uses Teletype 33 ribbon, just 1/2″ ribbon, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Once things are moving along I’ll worry about this..

9. try it out with some manually inserted bits and hand rolled motor. Hey, I have a big variable transformer.. will it run my synchronous motor at a lower speed?? hmm..

10. try it out with power. THis is scary let me tell you.. i’m worried about it throwing random metal into (a) bystanders (b) itself…

11. hook it up to (drum roll please) /dev/tty0