Some Process Shots

Here are some images of some material and process tests Kurt has been doing on the case and key caps, as well as some shots of the first prototype of the internals.

Test from a seven-ply bamboo sheet. This is a candidate for the final material.

Test made of MDF, which is not a candidate for the final material.

A fully populated prototype of the printed circuit board, along with some test key caps.

A midway point in one of the processes Kurt tested for milling the key caps out of a block of aluminum.

A test run of key caps fresh off the mill.

First test of a piece of bent aluminum as part of the case.

First Printed Circuit Boards Have Arrived

The first Stenosaurus printed circuit boards (PCBs) arrived yesterday. Below is an image of a Stenosaurus PCB wth some components.

A few things to note about this image:

• The key switches don't have key caps on them.
• Other than the key switches, the only other component on the PCB is the processor (the black square in the top center of the image).
• None of the components have yet been soldered onto the PCB.

I'm expecting to receive tomorrow the remaining components needed to complete the assembly of the circuit board. Once assembled, I'll begin testing and report back here.

Printed Circuit Board Design and Status

PCB layout so far.

The insides of the Stenosaurus consist of a single printed circuit board (PCB). The above image is a top-down view of the current state of the PCB design. The four rows of rectangles with two circles each correspond to the key switches. The protrusion near the center on the top side is the micro USB connector, which is how the Stenosaurus will connect to a computer. The protrusion to the right of the USB is the SD card holder, which will be where the steno dictionary and other settings will be stored. The concentric rectangles below the micro USB connector is the LCD. Everything else is what's needed to make everything work together and mount the PCB to the physical case.

This is a work in progress. The board outline and placement of the main components pointed about above are mostly finalized. The positions of the remainder of the components is still in flux. Most critically, the electrical connections between all the components haven't yet been routed, which is the next and final step before this design can be sent out for manufacturing.

All this is to say that progress is being made toward the first manufactured Stenosaurus! More soon.