Larry Kruzan on mon 26 apr 10
As some of you know I had a bad spinal injury 25 years ago when I lost my b=
=3D
alance on a missile launcher. It has caused me constant problems ever since=
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including being almost 100% wheelchair bound. A year and a half ago I hern=
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iated 3 disks in my lumbar spine which has caused me to reduce my workload =
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to almost nothing. To go from making 1000-1500 pots a month to 50 has been =
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a real shock to my life.=3D20
Now the doctors are looking into the possibility of another surgery to redu=
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ce the pain so that I will have a better life. That will be good except the=
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risk is very, very high that my right leg (or at least my foot) will be pa=
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ralyzed. The left leg is almost unusable now. I am in so much pain that I h=
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ave come to the conclusion that I must have the surgery no matter what the =
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outcome is, there are no other options that will give me any quality of lif=
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e.=3D20
I have been looking at ways to control my wheel without using a hand contro=
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l, I have played with them but I really like my hands on the clay, not a le=
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ver. =3DC2=3DA0So, when Jamie mentioned (thank you so much for this comment=
) Dr=3D
agon control of a wheel I got very excited. This could be just what the doc=
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tor ordered in my case.=3D20
I once was a pretty good tech but I'm many generations out of date as far a=
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s electronics go, and certainly as far as linking a computer to a wheel I w=
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ould be lost. Does anyone have first hand knowledge of how to do this??=3D2=
0
Thanks Claybuds,=3D20
Larry Kruzan
Jaime Salles on tue 27 apr 10
Larry way to fight the good fight.=3D20
=3D09I mentioned the idea ,one simple because it is the way my mind is=3D2=
0
wired and introduce some levity. It was present in my mind because I just=
=3D
=3D20
recently bought Dragon version 10 and have been playing around with it.=3D2=
0=3D
=3D09I designed special effects for the film and TV industries for 10 years=
=3D
=3D20
in the early 80 thru 90 before the advent of 3d Computing software. Most =
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of=3D20
the stuff I did was applied arts and physical engineering/building. And a=
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lthough=3D20
we would often interface with computer controlled camera equipment I am n=
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ot=3D20
an electrical engineer, My roots are in sculpture .
=3D09I know that Dragon allows the user to access functions on the=3D20
operating system level start applications and translates basic keyboard =
=3D
short=3D20
cut function to voice command.
=3D09(Also of note there may already by a voice activation function as=3D20
part of your OS, in your computer I believe that Vista has incorporated t=
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his.)
=3D09The most straight forward way I could see this happening is if there=
=3D20=3D
was an electrical engineer that could build a circuit that could take the=
=3D
=3D20
headphone output and co op the function of the potentiometer (??) inside =
=3D
the=3D20
foot pedal to become the an input to the wheel motor. You theoretically=
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=3D20
could then play a tone and by voice command increase and decrease that to=
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ne
(volume).
=3D09Another thought could be to contact Dragon tech support and see if=3D2=
0
there is any other possible avenue of getting an output signal . This wou=
=3D
ld still=3D20
be a low voltage signal and still would need some processing.
Another possible way is if there are any CNC stepper etc motor guys/gals=3D=
20=3D
=3D20
here that could simple physical coop the peddle itself and we engineer a =
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cam=3D20
to operate it and or directly run the motor or better yet Dragon may ru=
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n of=3D20
the shelf cnc type software motor control.
I do not want to raise your hopes that is alot of maybes , and I can not=3D=
20=3D
personally do much right now, but life can be full of surprises.
Jaime Salles
www.jsalles.com
Snail Scott on tue 27 apr 10
This is a long shot, but I recall some years ago
seeing a documentary about Neil Young (the
musician), whose son was born with profound
physical disabilities. The kid apparently liked to
watch Dad play with a model train layout, so
Young contacted Lionel Trains to see if there was
a way to adapt the model train controls to voice
command. They ended up creating a joint business
venture called LionCo, to develop remote control
systems for handicapped people to operate all
sorts of daily-life things. I have no idea if the
business succeeded or still survives, but it sounds
like just the sort of thing you are talking about.
Anybody know if LionCo is still around?
-Snail
Jaime Salles on tue 27 apr 10
Larry
=3D09First Snails point should not be dismissed I would add to call your=3D=
20=3D
wheel manufacturer for that matter all wheel manufactures and see if thei=
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r=3D20
tech staff has not fielded this question and by that I mean not necessari=
=3D
ly=3D20=3D20
voice activation but rather any handicap controls .
=3D09From your post you alluded too haveing some electronic and or=3D20
mechanical building skill what are they?=3D09
After tossing the problem around last night before we go crazy wit=
=3D
h=3D20
technology and all of its complexity We should first apply that most wond=
=3D
erful=3D20
of problem solutions strategies. KISS. Keep it simple stupid.
=3D09 I think we can solve this problem in more direct way than by=3D20
building our own computer interface if it is not readily available. To de=
=3D
velop a=3D20
better over all understanding of the particulars,
Larry what would keep you from simply placing the peddle with=
=3D
in arms=3D20
reach and setting the speed by manually changing the pitch of the peddle =
=3D
and=3D20
learning to throw with the limitation of not being able to vary speed on =
=3D
the fly?
(I will mention, I do teach throwing and I understand this is not optimu=
=3D
m.)
Jaime Salles=3D20
www.jsalles.com
marci and rex on tue 27 apr 10
>Larry
If you come out of this with some movement in
one leg, could things be rigged up with a knee pedal ... like
on console model sewing machines? ...( or a pedal steel guitar )
marci the chinapainter
John Rodgers on tue 27 apr 10
I worked on a jiggering machine that used a simple dial rheostat to
control the wheel head. Actually there were two controls. One was a
simple toggle switch with three positions - Forward, Off, Reverse. The
other was a rheostat that allowed one to set the speed in any range
going forward or reverse - from Zero to 200 RPM. This was an excellent
arrangement for working strictly with the hands. BTW - we never ever
used the 200 rpm. It simply was never necessary and 200 rpm on a wheel
is bloody fast!!
A wheel manufacturer could probably set this up for those with the need.
In fact - there are times I wish my Brent had that arrangement on it.
John
John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com
On 4/27/2010 7:36 AM, Jaime Salles wrote:
> Larry
> First Snails point should not be dismissed I would add to call your
> wheel manufacturer for that matter all wheel manufactures and see if thei=
r
> tech staff has not fielded this question and by that I mean not necessari=
ly
> voice activation but rather any handicap controls .
> From your post you alluded too haveing some electronic and or
> mechanical building skill what are they?
> After tossing the problem around last night before we go crazy wi=
th
> technology and all of its complexity We should first apply that most wond=
erful
> of problem solutions strategies. KISS. Keep it simple stupid.
> I think we can solve this problem in more direct way than by
> building our own computer interface if it is not readily available. To de=
velop a
> better over all understanding of the particulars,
> Larry what would keep you from simply placing the peddle wit=
hin arms
> reach and setting the speed by manually changing the pitch of the peddle =
and
> learning to throw with the limitation of not being able to vary speed on =
the fly?
>
> (I will mention, I do teach throwing and I understand this is not optim=
um.)
>
> Jaime Salles
>
> www.jsalles.com
>
>
>
Jaime Salles on wed 28 apr 10
Larry=3D20
=3D09 I have come to understand, this is a quality of throwing issue , and=
=3D20=3D
at this juncture I can not directly help you with a voice command operate=
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d=3D20
wheel. However after toying with the problem, I feel fairly confident th=
=3D
at I=3D20
can develop an economically feasible prosthetic appliance that requires=3D2=
0=3D
rudimentary shop skills that in essence could be called a mouth peddle to=
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allow=3D20
you to control the wheels speed with a mouth piece. If at any point you f=
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eel=3D20
this could be helpful please feel free to contact me.And I will take this=
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a step=3D20
further.
Best of luck
Jaime Salles=3D20
www.jsalles.com
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