Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-ncis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ames!killer!vector!nobody From: kodak!ornitz@cs.rochester.edu (barry ornitz) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: A Tiny Tim Message-ID: Date: 4 Jan 89 04:33:30 GMT Sender: chip@vector.UUCP Lines: 27 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 4, message 6 I remember seeing a device in _QST_ magazine many years ago that might help. (QST is an amateur radio magazine published by the American Radio Relay League of Newington, CT.) This device enabled a quadraplegic to operate a ham radio by using a collection of plastic soda straws for the individual to puff into. The straws connected to sensitive pressure switches that did the actual control of the radio. These switches are quite inexpensive and are available on the surplus market. The solid-state pressure transducers would also work if an analog output were needed, or they could feed a comparator circuit. These switches could be wired in parallel with the cursor keys (with repeat) to give a mouse-like functionality. A pressure sensitivity on the order of ten to twenty inches of water should be satisfactory. Back in college, I helped make a number of modifications to radio equipment for a friend who was a semi-quadraplegic - he could move his arms but not wrists or fingers. Amateur radio opened up a new world to my friend, and I am glad to have been able to help. If the idea of using pressure switches looks promising in this application, I'll see what I can find for pressure sensors. Barry ----------------- | ___ ________ | | | / / | | Dr. Barry L. Ornitz UUCP:..rutgers!rochester!kodak!ornitz | | / / | | Eastman Kodak Company | |< < K O D A K| | Eastman Chemicals Division Research Laboratories | | \ \ | | P. O. Box 1972 | |__\ \________| | Kingsport, TN 37662 615/229-4904 | | -----------------