physical
it, hardware, material stuff, embodiments, project bobtail
Our initial three products are:
Neck | Hand Interface. A mass market consumer product.
Wearable platform. Niche market, for hardware developers working on wired arrays with wireless connectivity.
Neuro-tactile module. Niche market, for laboratories researching haptics or bio-potentials.
Some details about these three follow.
exoskeletons
We incorporate our neuro-tactile module (ref. subsystems below) into our wearable platform (ref. subsystems below) to produce several different macro forms. Community members may make their own forms. Initially we'll work on a helical form and at a later stage we'll release some others.
neck | hand interface
A band which forms either either a neck worn choker (wearable) or a hand held sceptre (graspable), as in the image at the top of this page. Each segment in the array has a module in it. This will likely be our first shelf ready device.
later forms
ribbon
Wrappable. Two variable length module arrays. Similar to the helix but with more flexible macro movement. May be installed on a handle of some kind. e.g. on a walking stick, an umbrella, an oar, a racquet, bow or the like.
pair
Strappable. Two modules placed ~5 cm apart (like dumbbells). May be strapped to various locations. We expect this to be a quick way for graduate students to get their experiments up and running.
grid
A tabletop pad on which one may place one's hand.
subsystems
We're developing two subsystems which we integrate to form various exoskeletons. These subsystems may be of interest to hobbyists, researchers, developers and hardware tinkerers
wearable platform (wireless array)
Many of the devices we wear / carry around with us contain a hardware unit confined to a single space. Our wearable platform has a central 'crest board' (ref. below) with a battery and wireless connectivity and is physically wired to long arrays of 'edge boards' (ref. below). Several different devices may be built on top of this.
edge board
Built around an RP2040 (https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/rp2040/ ) connected via a buck. Uses I2C as an address and control bus, disconnect-able SPI and UART buses for data and a disconnect-able USB bus to update the firmware of each board separately. They may be daisy chained to form a common bus with relatively few wires across boards.
crest board
A HAT / base which mates with a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 ( https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/compute-module-4/ ); has a battery management system, peripherals and is intended to work with two arrays of Edge Boards.
neuro-tactile module
It incorporates an eXg-haptic board (ref. below) and edge board (ref. above) into a single unit. May be of interest to laboratories conducting haptic and bio-potential experiments.
eXg-haptic board
A (1) bioelectric sensor (capacitive, dry, single electrode ExG) (2) a piezo unit functioning as a vibro-tactile (haptic) stimulator / actuator and vibration sensor and (3) an external temperature sensor, with an (4) optional IMU, an (5) optional LRA and an (6) optional LED.
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