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Timstock Slim v0.93 pcb just shipped from OSH Park!

A project log for Timstock Slim - a tool for the autistic

Timstock Slim is a simple tool that helps autistic children to tell them when a task is finished or when it's time for something to happen!

jensandreejens.andree 06/04/2015 at 20:350 Comments

This is just a short update but the revised v0.93 has just been depanelized and shipped by OSH Park, and now I have to wait for a couple of weeks until they arrive and I can populate a few new boards and send them away for usability testing!

This is really exciting for me since I'm getting closer and closer to seeing this project becoming reality. I know there are many people who eagerly hoping for this to become reality, and at a cost which is perhaps 10 times less - or more! - than what's available today... That means that 10 or more children with need can now get the help they need for the same cost of one, and one that's way less bulky and looking like it came out of a hospital...

My oldest son refused to use his old Timstock simply because it was so obviously a "handicap aid" - and this in a time when he discovered why and how he was different from the other kids, and although he knows there's nothing wrong with being autistic, he had a period - like most other kids - when he was uncomfortable with showing his handicap(s) from being autistic.

Back then I developed a software version for Android and gave him a phone with the app Tim(mer) Stock (as I called it back then). That worked well and now no-one saw him using that old bulky tool any longer.

Timstock Slim won't look like it's been handed out by a medical team, nor will it be bulky or hostile. It'll be whatever you want it to be since it can be put in an enclosure if you want, and this can look like whatever you want! There will also be a hole in the PCB on the next version after v0.93 so the user can have it around their neck with a lanyard, or hanging on a key chain or similar.

Well, enough about that ;)

There's a few changes to the code and I will also start performance testing as soon as all functional test-cases have passed, and the goal is to push the battery consumption as low as possible. It'll perhaps get a custom bootloader, but it will still be reflashable by all the users if someone want's to modify their Timstock Slim, or if someone has custom needs?!

Open Source should mean Open in every way and that's why both the code and the schematic, and layout, will be well documented and explained for those who want to modify their own Timstock Slim - or make their own PCB!

This will ensure that it'll be available in the 3:rd world as well, as long as someone has the capability to etch a pcb and flash the software. Money must not be a deciding factor if you can get help or not...

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