|
Novice needs help with crazy project
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/pat...-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 p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
"jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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/pat...-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 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 !! |
Novice needs help with crazy project
"jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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? |
Novice needs help with crazy project
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. "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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/pat...-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 p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote:
"jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Mar 17, 1:31 pm, "John Barrett" wrote:
"jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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/pat...307-3/US070627... 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 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 !!- 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. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 10:04:28 -0700, jerry wrote:
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 |
Novice needs help with crazy project
jerry wrote:
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/pat...-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 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. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
Jack wrote:
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. "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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/pat...-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 p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group. 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! |
Novice needs help with crazy project
"jerry" wrote in message
oups.com... 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. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry"
wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one. -- JF |
Novice needs help with crazy project
John Fields wrote:
On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- 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. Cheers, Phil Hobbs |
Novice needs help with crazy project
From the 'keep it simple' school of design: Consider something like a
periscope. Optics only, no electronics. -- Paul Hovnanian ------------------------------------------------------------------ Porsche 928: 0 to c in 2.125 years, 2.435 light-years per mile^3 of gas |
Novice needs help with crazy project
Phil Hobbs wrote:
John Fields wrote: On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" 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. -- Michael Brown Add michael@ to emboss.co.nz - My inbox is always open |
Novice needs help with crazy project
|
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 17:36:46 -0500, Phil Hobbs
wrote: John Fields wrote: On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- 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. --- It doesn't matter what you want to build it for, if you don't have the patent owner's permission it's infringement. For an overview, go to: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac...l/infringe.htm and for more detail: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac..._U_S_C_271.htm -- JF |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:35:46 -0400, krw Gave us:
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. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
jerry wrote:
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/pat...-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 p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group. How about using a CCD security camera and an NTSC LCD display? I have a small panel I found surplus that accepts standard video, the optics could get clunky though. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
|
Novice needs help with crazy project
Jack wrote:
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. As much as I like fancy gadgets, it occurred to me that perhaps this is the wrong approach. How about a simple periscope type device? No electronics to get wet, no batteries to go dead, no wiring or connectors to worry about, nice and simple. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:20:44 -0400, krw wrote:
In article , says... John Fields 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. 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? --- Whether someone is going to come after you or not is beside the point. The law states that the inventor is entitled to benefit from his effort in inventing and then disclosing the invention for the benefit of mankind and, without his permission, copies of the invention for practical use may not be made during the lifetime of the patent. Since the OP knows that the device has been patented, if he copies it without the permission of the inventor then he's infringed the patent and denied the inventor income which should have accrued to him. There really is no problem here, and if the OP wants to copy the invention and avoid any heartburn at all, all he has to do is get permission from the owner of the patent. -- JF |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:35:46 -0400, krw wrote:
In article , says... On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 17:36:46 -0500, Phil Hobbs wrote: John Fields wrote: On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- 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. --- It doesn't matter what you want to build it for, if you don't have the patent owner's permission it's infringement. Not true. It can legally be built to learn what is being taught in the patent and even extend the patent. --- True. Good catch. --- For an overview, go to: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac...l/infringe.htm and for more detail: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac..._U_S_C_271.htm Check out the "education" exemption. --- Agreed. My point, though, was that if the OP copies the patent for practical use he'll be infringing the patent unless he gets permission to copy it from the owner of the patent. -- JF |
Novice needs help with crazy project
"jerry" wrote in news:1174151068.228643.306840
@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com: 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. Cool idea, but.... realistically.... wearing this while you swim will slow you down... First of all the drag with the water flowing around it (instead of your smooth head). Second, the mass will make it more difficult to swing your head over to take a breath. Third, trying to make sense of that jiggly image your display is showing you will break your concentration. Better way: Train a fish to swim the course and just follow it. (Or build an artificial fish with an internal GPS that you program with the course.) Or a GPS mounted on your back that steers you by giving you electrical shocks in the ribs if you get off course. Alternatively, a monitor with a bird's-eye view of you and the course markers (aloft on a big balloon or model airplane) would remove the optics and electronics from your body. Just build a receiver that straps on your back and gives you electrical shocks to the ribs when you're getting off course. Say, can't you just follow the competitor in front of you? Aren't you all swimming exactly the same course? |
Novice needs help with crazy project
John Fields wrote:
On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message egroups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one. Absolutely *NOT* true. It is OK for one to build a device for one's own use; what is protected is *selling* the devices without a licence from the patent owner. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
Phil Hobbs wrote:
John Fields wrote: On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- 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. Cheers, Phil Hobbs You are correct (as usual). |
Novice needs help with crazy project
Robert Baer wrote:
John Fields wrote: On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one. Absolutely *NOT* true. It is OK for one to build a device for one's own use; what is protected is *selling* the devices without a licence from the patent owner. I think you should check your facts. -- The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to minimize spam. Our true address is of the form . |
Novice needs help with crazy project
Late at night, by candle light, John Fields
penned this immortal opus: On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one. A one-off for personal use is allowed. - YD. -- Remove HAT if replying by mail. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
Late at night, by candle light, "jerry"
penned this immortal opus: 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/pat...-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 p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group. Optical periscope. A tube with some lenses and mirrors. - YD. -- Remove HAT if replying by mail. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:46:24 -0300, YD Gave us:
Late at night, by candle light, John Fields penned this immortal opus: On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one. A one-off for personal use is allowed. One used to be able to make a "cable box" for "experimental purposes". They still may, but using it on the cable line is where the felony theft of service comes in. Doesn't do much just sitting there without a cable hooked to it. If I EVER made a "one off" of someone else's patented product or process, I would certainly be in correspondence with that person. It is just plain good civil practice, and if you claim to be a member of civil society, you should have enough presence of mind to know the difference between an experiment and a rip off or avoidance of paying one's dues. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Mar 17, 9:59 pm, James Sweet wrote:
Jack wrote: 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. As much as I like fancy gadgets, it occurred to me that perhaps this is the wrong approach. How about a simple periscope type device? No electronics to get wet, no batteries to go dead, no wiring or connectors to worry about, nice and simple. I tried using a mirror, but because of the angle I needed it produced way to much drag. I thought a small LCD could be mounted flater and produce less drag. A periscope would produce even more drag. But mayby some type of medical scope/device could be used? Anyway, thanks for the ideas. |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Mar 18, 1:11 am, Jim Land
wrote: "jerry" wrote in news:1174151068.228643.306840 @n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com: 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. Cool idea, but.... realistically.... wearing this while you swim will slow you down... First of all the drag with the water flowing around it (instead of your smooth head). Second, the mass will make it more difficult to swing your head over to take a breath. Third, trying to make sense of that jiggly image your display is showing you will break your concentration. Better way: Train a fish to swim the course and just follow it. (Or build an artificial fish with an internal GPS that you program with the course.) Or a GPS mounted on your back that steers you by giving you electrical shocks in the ribs if you get off course. Alternatively, a monitor with a bird's-eye view of you and the course markers (aloft on a big balloon or model airplane) would remove the optics and electronics from your body. Just build a receiver that straps on your back and gives you electrical shocks to the ribs when you're getting off course. Say, can't you just follow the competitor in front of you? Aren't you all swimming exactly the same course? Transporting a trained fish might be tricky. What if it doesn't come back? My dog doesn't even come when she's called. Also, we usually have no access to the lake or the course prior to the start. A spotter with a walky-talky was suggested but everyone in my wave will be wearing the same color swim cap and be hard to distinguish. Besides, I usually can't even get my wife to come to these things with me, so finding a spotter would be a problem. And although there usually is someone in front of me - and drafting in the swim is legal - I've found that most people go off course as often as I do. Thanks for the ideas! Please keep them coming! |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:28:23 -0500, Jamie
t Gave us: krw wrote: In article , says... On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:35:46 -0400, krw Gave us: 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. You wouldn't know a patent if it got up and spanked you like you mommy does, Dimbulb. i thought it was his sister? You are both quite lucky that we do not live in Old West Rules society any more. Otherwise, you'd both be perched on an NYPD broomstick handle, in public, feeding the rats... The cannibals that they are... |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 06:41:14 GMT, Robert Baer
wrote: John Fields wrote: --- But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one. Absolutely *NOT* true. It is OK for one to build a device for one's own use; what is protected is *selling* the devices without a licence from the patent owner. --- Absolutely, totally, incontrovertibly wrong. I posted these links befo http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac...l/infringe.htm http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac..._U_S_C_271.htm Didn't you bother to read them? This subject has come up in these newsgroups before, and the last time it did I called the USPTO and talked to one of the people there about infringement and whether it was legal to copy a patent for one's own use and the answer was a resounding NO! Makes sense if you think about it. What if you were an inventor and everyone made a copy of your invention for their own use. Where would that leave you? -- JF |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:46:24 -0300, YD wrote:
Late at night, by candle light, John Fields penned this immortal opus: --- But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one. A one-off for personal use is allowed. --- No, it isn't. Contact the USPTO if you don't believe me: http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/feedback.html -- JF |
Novice needs help with crazy project
krw wrote:
In article , says... On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:35:46 -0400, krw Gave us: 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. You wouldn't know a patent if it got up and spanked you like you mommy does, Dimbulb. i thought it was his sister? -- "I'm never wrong, once i thought i was, but was mistaken" Real Programmers Do things like this. http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5 |
Novice needs help with crazy project
|
Novice needs help with crazy project
In article ,
says... krw wrote: In article , says... On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:35:46 -0400, krw Gave us: 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. You wouldn't know a patent if it got up and spanked you like you mommy does, Dimbulb. i thought it was his sister? Same person. -- Keith |
Novice needs help with crazy project
In article ,
says... On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:28:23 -0500, Jamie t Gave us: krw wrote: In article , says... On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:35:46 -0400, krw Gave us: 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. You wouldn't know a patent if it got up and spanked you like you mommy does, Dimbulb. i thought it was his sister? You are both quite lucky that we do not live in Old West Rules society any more. Otherwise, you'd both be perched on an NYPD broomstick handle, in public, feeding the rats... The cannibals that they are... OOooo, I'm getting him closer to the edge! That's two threats. Come on Dimmie, you can hold on a little longer. -- Keith |
Novice needs help with crazy project
On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 11:37:56 -0400, krw wrote:
In article , says... Late at night, by candle light, John Fields penned this immortal opus: On 17 Mar 2007 11:57:20 -0700, "jerry" wrote: On Mar 17, 2:16 pm, "jim menning" wrote: "jerry" wrote in message oups.com... 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?- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Not yet! --- But, if it's patented, it'll be illegal for you to build one. A one-off for personal use is allowed. No, it is not. Yeth it is ;-) But you may not profit from the "personal use". There are some special cases that have been handled by additional law... for instance cable boxes, homemade, for "personal use", were legal until "theft-of-service" laws were written. Why do you think so many schematics are labeled "for educational purposes only" ?:-) ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:25 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2014 DIYbanter