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Novice needs help with crazy project

J

jerry

Jan 1, 1970
0
Gurus,

I need your help...

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Sound crazy? I did a Google search and found that someone has
patented the same idea...

http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week25/OG/html/1307-3/US07062796-20060620.html

The thing is, as far as I can tell it's never been built, and I need
your help to build it.

I took apart a digital camera and was able to power it up and get an
image on the LCD, but the LCD is connected to the camera by what looks
like a proprietary 24 wire ribbon cable and connector that I would
need to build an extension to. Any ideas if that is possible? It
would need to be about 15"-20" long to go from the back of my head to
the front of my goggles. The ribbon is about 1" now. Do you think
the picture quality would get much worse at 15"?

Another issue is that the camera has a lot of extra stuff on it that I
don't need. Do you think there is a way to trim it down to just the
ccd, lcd, a battery and a switch? Do you think a phone would be a
better starting point? I took apart a broken camera phone and I was
able to separate the pieces - but it has the same issue - a very thin
proprietary ribbon cable.

Any other ideas? Am I crazy?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

jerry <[email protected]>

p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group.
 
J

John Barrett

Jan 1, 1970
0
jerry said:
Gurus,

I need your help...

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Sound crazy? I did a Google search and found that someone has
patented the same idea...

http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week25/OG/html/1307-3/US07062796-20060620.html

The thing is, as far as I can tell it's never been built, and I need
your help to build it.

I took apart a digital camera and was able to power it up and get an
image on the LCD, but the LCD is connected to the camera by what looks
like a proprietary 24 wire ribbon cable and connector that I would
need to build an extension to. Any ideas if that is possible? It
would need to be about 15"-20" long to go from the back of my head to
the front of my goggles. The ribbon is about 1" now. Do you think
the picture quality would get much worse at 15"?

Another issue is that the camera has a lot of extra stuff on it that I
don't need. Do you think there is a way to trim it down to just the
ccd, lcd, a battery and a switch? Do you think a phone would be a
better starting point? I took apart a broken camera phone and I was
able to separate the pieces - but it has the same issue - a very thin
proprietary ribbon cable.

Any other ideas? Am I crazy?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

jerry <[email protected]>

p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group.

have you considered one of those wrist watch TVs with an NTSC input, and one
of those super-mini security cams ??

might be easier to waterproof integrated units like that compared to a
custom setup like you described, and completely eliminates custom connectors
from the problem !!
 
J

jim menning

Jan 1, 1970
0
jerry said:
Gurus,

I need your help...

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Sound

Will such a device be illegal in competition?
 
J

Jack

Jan 1, 1970
0
You must have a pretty big head if it takes 15" to get from to the back to
one eye.
But seriously I think that you could make the thing work without lengthening
the cable.
You don't really need to mount it on the back of your head because you don't
need to see ahead all of the time, just once in a while. The real issue is
that you need the camera to point up instead of forward like your eyes.

So you could mount the camera on the side of your goggles (at the temple)
pointing up with the screen on front of the lens of one eye and a lens on
the inside of the goggles to allow you to focus that close. Each time you
take a breath the camera will be at the highest point on your head offering
the best view forward. You would probably have to swim with your head
rotated slightly to avoid the drag that immersing the camera would add. Pot
the whole thing up solid with bathtub calk for waterproofing and you're good
to go until the battery runs down.
 
J

jerry

Jan 1, 1970
0
have you considered one of those wrist watch TVs with an NTSC input, and one
of those super-mini security cams ??

might be easier to waterproof integrated units like that compared to a
custom setup like you described, and completely eliminates custom connectors
from the problem !!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah, the cameras look small enough, but the receivers would be to
large to mount infront of my face.
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy.

Your major problem is your swimming technique. When do you breathe?
How much effort does it take to glance up at the bouy while you're
taking a breath? Or are we talking snorkel here?

Good Luck!
Rich
 
R

Robert Baer

Jan 1, 1970
0
jerry said:
Gurus,

I need your help...

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Sound crazy? I did a Google search and found that someone has
patented the same idea...

http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week25/OG/html/1307-3/US07062796-20060620.html

The thing is, as far as I can tell it's never been built, and I need
your help to build it.

I took apart a digital camera and was able to power it up and get an
image on the LCD, but the LCD is connected to the camera by what looks
like a proprietary 24 wire ribbon cable and connector that I would
need to build an extension to. Any ideas if that is possible? It
would need to be about 15"-20" long to go from the back of my head to
the front of my goggles. The ribbon is about 1" now. Do you think
the picture quality would get much worse at 15"?

Another issue is that the camera has a lot of extra stuff on it that I
don't need. Do you think there is a way to trim it down to just the
ccd, lcd, a battery and a switch? Do you think a phone would be a
better starting point? I took apart a broken camera phone and I was
able to separate the pieces - but it has the same issue - a very thin
proprietary ribbon cable.

Any other ideas? Am I crazy?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

jerry <[email protected]>

p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group.
The ribbon cable is a standard in the electronics industry and
different lengths are available; did not look to see if 15 inch length
available.
THe worst problem is reliably sealing all of the electronics from
water and moisture.
 
R

Robert Baer

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jack said:
You must have a pretty big head if it takes 15" to get from to the back to
one eye.
But seriously I think that you could make the thing work without lengthening
the cable.
You don't really need to mount it on the back of your head because you don't
need to see ahead all of the time, just once in a while. The real issue is
that you need the camera to point up instead of forward like your eyes.

So you could mount the camera on the side of your goggles (at the temple)
pointing up with the screen on front of the lens of one eye and a lens on
the inside of the goggles to allow you to focus that close. Each time you
take a breath the camera will be at the highest point on your head offering
the best view forward. You would probably have to swim with your head
rotated slightly to avoid the drag that immersing the camera would add. Pot
the whole thing up solid with bathtub calk for waterproofing and you're good
to go until the battery runs down.
Doesn't bathtub caulk use acetic acid to cure, like the original
silicone RTV?
If so, *do* *NOT* use that crap; it will corrode the electronics!
 
C

Captain Midnight

Jan 1, 1970
0
jerry said:
Gurus,

I need your help...

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Sound crazy? I did a Google search and found that someone has
patented the same idea...

Use a waterproof GPS with earphone. My GPS is much too old to guess about
how to get the voice to direct you around way points. Or maybe the display
could be separated. Brings up the question of how/where are you going to put
the display where it can be seen/focused on while swimming. Get bonus points
for making the antenna look like a shark fin.

Crazy ideas........easy, making them work...........priceless.
 
P

Phil Hobbs

Jan 1, 1970
0
Illegal to sell it, or to profit by using it. But building one for fun?
Don't think so.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs
 
S

Stanislaw Flatto

Jan 1, 1970
0
jerry said:
Gurus,

I need your help...

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Sound crazy? I did a Google search and found that someone has
patented the same idea...

http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week25/OG/html/1307-3/US07062796-20060620.html

The thing is, as far as I can tell it's never been built, and I need
your help to build it.

I took apart a digital camera and was able to power it up and get an
image on the LCD, but the LCD is connected to the camera by what looks
like a proprietary 24 wire ribbon cable and connector that I would
need to build an extension to. Any ideas if that is possible? It
would need to be about 15"-20" long to go from the back of my head to
the front of my goggles. The ribbon is about 1" now. Do you think
the picture quality would get much worse at 15"?

Another issue is that the camera has a lot of extra stuff on it that I
don't need. Do you think there is a way to trim it down to just the
ccd, lcd, a battery and a switch? Do you think a phone would be a
better starting point? I took apart a broken camera phone and I was
able to separate the pieces - but it has the same issue - a very thin
proprietary ribbon cable.
***************************************************************
Any other ideas? Am I crazy?
****************************************************************

Just seen the Navy training dolphins, so maybe they can lend you one
home trained orka as a guide submarine. The bicycle stretch should be a
sight to behold;^))

HTH

Have fun

Stanislaw.
 
P

Paul Hovnanian P.E.

Jan 1, 1970
0
From the 'keep it simple' school of design: Consider something like a
periscope. Optics only, no electronics.
 
E

Eric R Snow

Jan 1, 1970
0
Gurus,

I need your help...

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Sound crazy? I did a Google search and found that someone has
patented the same idea...

http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week25/OG/html/1307-3/US07062796-20060620.html

The thing is, as far as I can tell it's never been built, and I need
your help to build it.

I took apart a digital camera and was able to power it up and get an
image on the LCD, but the LCD is connected to the camera by what looks
like a proprietary 24 wire ribbon cable and connector that I would
need to build an extension to. Any ideas if that is possible? It
would need to be about 15"-20" long to go from the back of my head to
the front of my goggles. The ribbon is about 1" now. Do you think
the picture quality would get much worse at 15"?

Another issue is that the camera has a lot of extra stuff on it that I
don't need. Do you think there is a way to trim it down to just the
ccd, lcd, a battery and a switch? Do you think a phone would be a
better starting point? I took apart a broken camera phone and I was
able to separate the pieces - but it has the same issue - a very thin
proprietary ribbon cable.

Any other ideas? Am I crazy?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

jerry <[email protected]>

p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group.
Greetings Jerry,
I imagine that you've already considered the effect of the extra drag
from the camera and display on your lap time compared to being off
course and correcting. And since you have determined that the
camera/display assembly will shorten lap times by keeping you on
course then maybe the best camera to hack would be one of the cheap
disposable digital cameras for sale at drugstores and similar places.
These cameras will certainly have as few parts as possible, and may
also be the lightest once the case is ditched. There are some cameras
with fold out displays that may have cables with fewer conductors in
order to make the swivel work. Have you thought about how well you can
focus on a display only a 1/2 inch or so away from your eyeball?
There may still be available glasses for video games that had tiny
displays in them with optics that made the image appear to be some
distance away. It could be that they used a standard video format,
like NTSC for example. If so then you could hack these and use a
cheap, tiny CMOS camera with lens and you would only need three wires.
When swimming do you get off course because of currents in the water?
Or because you pull to one side? If it's the latter maybe you could
use a timer that would beep at the rate necessary to add extra strokes
on one side or the other to train you to keep swimming straight.
Good luck,
ERS
 
M

Michael Brown

Jan 1, 1970
0
Phil said:
John said:
On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" <[email protected]>
wrote: [...]
But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one.
Illegal to sell it, or to profit by using it. But building one for
fun? Don't think so.

There was significant debate about this point ~10 years ago with regards to
cryptography. A good archive of it is at:
http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/NEWS3/PATENT.HTM
Unless "for fun" you mean "idle curiosity" then you're out of luck ... Of
course, if noone knows you made something patent-infringing you're not going
to get done over for doing so.
 
K

krw

Jan 1, 1970
0
Illegal to sell it, or to profit by using it. But building one for fun?
Don't think so.

Building one for education (to learn the art being taught in the
patent) is fine. Building one to avoid paying for a widget? Very
doubtful, but who is going to come after you?
 
M

MassiveProng

Jan 1, 1970
0
Not true. It can legally be built to learn what is being taught in
the patent and even extend the patent.


Not without permission dumbass.
 
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