Hi Chuck!
I'm sorry to read that you are more ill. I will pray for your upcoming
medical procedure.
I'm glad you were able to correct several of these long-standing problems.
You have had a steep mountain to climb caused by those dishonest people.
Man's inhumanity to man.
Debby
At 04:32 PM 7/29/2017, C. Pond wrote
Hey Doug, glad indeed to hear from you on the list! Great to hear from you
me fellow Winnipegger. Indeed! I'd return to western or northern Canada in
a heartbeat if I could.
Quickly: have done very little work on the "optacon 3" (for lack of a better
name for now at least) because of illness which confines me to my bed now
save for a few hours per month, albeit I would have more energy though
transient if I were to take theseseriously medications everday. I can now
eat but 3 or 4 meals per month along with something like Ensure. By
mid-August I will likely engage in another dangerous medical treatment which
is a do or die. I am sincerely sorry for the delay. In addition, the
dishonesty of several people who work a braille and language-oriented
company, and who are no longer in Ottawa, literally pushed back for years
the rebirth of the good ol' optacon (and the braille technology for which we
have sought for decades). In addition to all of the legalities and a fluffy
stack of fierce papers, another consequence was that the engineering team at
my disposal was scattered; for, of greatest importance here was and is a
good programmer. Once bitten, twice shy they became
(they were friendly, sincere and initially interested for any number of
reasons with blindness being but one). Indeed, the qualified programmer was
the most severe loss pertaining to the optacon III project.
"Do you realize what you have done?" I had asked them with incredulity.
So therefore no group in Ottawa will ever assemble now.--Because of the
above actions of others (not that uncommon in certain fields like this), the
project has shot its bolt in the somewhat tight engineering, programming,
rehab and biomedical community here in Ottawa. So then, progress for now
since last:
1. Camera settled. Small and squarish, something like a lego block with
the four tabs on it, not the larger blocks with 6, 8 etc. It uses a wheel
to affect the zoom. In our R1C and R1D models (which use a slider button
for zoom), the small block insie their cameras containing their lens and
filter move in the optacon R1C and R1D camera. The camera for the intended
optacon III does not use this moving lens/filter combination block between
the mirror and the retina chip to simulate zoom. The camera is also closed
for its protection. Some of the aging R1C & R1D cameras can actually have a
typical, recognizable camera-oriented fungus growing in them.
3. In order to keep the camera still and in place, a magnetized rubber
sheet or mat (exactly the kind found in places like Michael's Art Supply)
holds the camera still on a page. The camera has four tiny bearings on the
bottom surface,something like those in the crt lens for the R1C and R1D
optacons, and so these tiny ball bearings give the camera and the user a
smooth good time. It is these small ball bearings which are attracted to
the magnetized reading mat. The first camera cost a lot of money to design
and have built (I had no hand in building it, but rather in its design).
Produced in batches and in somewhat automated conditions, the camera's price
would be just a few dollars; so says the relevant company and the
spreadsheet. That is the way of it always. In addition, the camera cable
(completely replacible) is slender and very flexible, something like a fine
fibre-optics cable, albeit it is not fibre optaconics. Just about the
thickness of a single length of yar.
4. The several materials used for the finger-plate and for the two "frames"
which hold together the two layers of "tactuators" (can't stand that
composite word of tactile-actuators, but it'll have to do its hapless best
for now. Perhaps something easier to handl and name the tactuators, ... Say
Pirate ninja) have been settled. This might not make a difference to the
user and to the Optacon III's functions, but for a designer it matters.
5. Sealing the several hundred pirate ninjas settled. Related to this, a
user-replacible finger-plate, sealed on its bottom surface which interfaces
with the pirate ninja array, and how to interface the bottom sealed
finger-plate surface with the sealed pirate ninjas in their tight array,
have been settled. So, now the user either can clean the finger-plate, or
simply replace it with little fus.
6. USB connectors and their initially unintended variants have been found
to be unsuitable for the connection of the camera cable to the optacon, and
the cable's other end to the camera/mouse (m i c k e y, m-o-u-s-e); this
because of their mechanical unreliability, and eventually their electrical
unreliability. Still working on a more solid and reliable connector.
7. There are about half a dozen tweaks to be tested so as to reduce power
needs. I simply have not the strength now to do these power-reducing test.
Even if nothing further is done, the thing can run constantly (at least for
tests done on the bench and documented) for several hours. The driver chips
and a drop resistor (which probably can be eliminated in time) do get a
little toasty, but the display does not become warm, let alone hot.
8. The error checking & error correcting logic for each of the Pirate
Ninjas and their relation to each other works fine when bread-boarded, but I
have not yet programmed that layer of logic into the chips used as drivers.
Whether or not it makes a difference, better to have it than not.
So then, these are points which came up on the list some time ago, and now
several of them have been addressed. If the intended team had not been
scattered--especially if I had a qualified programmer here, we would have
accelerated and would likely have finished. Yes, the real thing. That, in
brief, is where things stand at this tine.
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Parisian
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2017 2:52 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: New Optacon
Debby, I first learned the Opticon in 1977 and while using it to keep my
job, attempted unsuccessfully to motivate our CNIB and our Special needs
department in the education branch to make use of the Opticon a strong
requirement. That skill is every bit as important as math, science,
daily living skills etc. Unfortunately, our rehabilitation efforts are
more ruled by social work and "head shrink" philosophies rather than
those which have proven to be successful in the business and commerce
world. A group of the 70s and 80s best summarizes the requirements of
much of life in their group name, Blood Sweat And Tears.
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
to view the list archives, go to:
www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l
To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.
Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.
