Re: Twiddler2 & Poma Work Together

From Wear-Hard Mailing list Archive (WH) Maintained by R. Paul McCarty

>From: "Craig M. Armstrong " <>
>Reply-To: Wearable Hardware Discussion List <>
>To: "Wearable Hardware Discussion List" <>
>Subject: Re: [Wear-Hard] Twiddler2 & Poma Work Together
>Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 20:24:00 -0700
>
>On 7/3/06, Ben Roose <> wrote:
>>Hi all,
>>
>>        I recently bought a Xybernaut Poma and a Handykey Twiddler2 
>>(single
>>USB connector version).  Very sadly the Twiddler2 doesn't seem to be
>>recognized by the Poma and therefore I can't use them together.
>
>Bummer.

  Damn right, I emailed Xybernaut regarding this problem and received a 
reply saying they never created any drivers for using the Twiddler on the 
Poma.  What company develops a wearable for sale but doesn't allow it to be 
used with one of the primary, industry-standard wearable input devices on 
the market??!

>
>>    I found in the Wear-Hard archive that the PS/2 version of the 
>>Twiddler2
>>is seen by the Poma's WinCE as a standard keyboard, so at least you could
>
>Does the Poma have PS/2 ports on it?

  The Poma only has a single USB host port (no PS/2), but I read on 
Wear-Hard that people have successfully got the Poma to recognize a PS/2 
Twiddler as just a keyboard with no mouse by using a USB to PS/2 adapter.

>
>>    So, my question(s) is:
>>a)  does anyone have or know where I might find a WinCE 3.0 driver that 
>>will
>>work with a USB Twiddler2?
>
>Would it be possible to upgrade to Windows Mobile? Maybe it would have
>a device driver for it.

  I don't know if I could upgrade, maybe by flashing the internal ROM but 
the processor specs for the Poma are low compared to today's PDAs - Hitachi 
SuperH RISC SH-4 128Mhz/32Mb RAM/USB 1.1 Host/Single CF Card slot.
  I think if I was going to re-flash the entire system I would prefer to 
find a nice, light Linux system that can run on a SH-4 processor.  If only 
there was a way to get something like Damn Small Linux running on it.

>
>Is the Poma display hardwired, or can it be disconnected and used
>w/another device?

  It can be disconnected from the Poma but, like many of the Xybernaut 
units, it is a proprietory connector that runs the HMD data and power 
together.  I don't know how it is wired or even what the format is - VGA, 
LCD, Proprietory signal.  I heard rumors it was some kind of digital LCD 
connection like you can now get on some higher end LCD monitors.  What I 
don't know is whether the Poma's HMD would wire into a Xybernaut MAIV 
display connection, I wouldn't want to test it without knowing first in case 
it destroyed the HMD.
  Also, one of the reasons I went with the Poma was due to it being a fully 
integrated wearable system without having to hack something together.  I 
wanted something reasonably small and lightweight like a PDA but with the 
flexibility of not needing to worry about internal screens/keyboards and to 
have the connections required for an external HMD and a Twiddler2 (or so I 
thought).
  The closest thing to this I've seen (aside from the Poma), that is smaller 
than a Xybernaut MAIV or V,  is the Gumstix boards, but currently you need 
to be able to wire up the HMD directly to the Gumstix via LCD connections 
(I've never done LCD wiring before) and they still don't have onboard USB 
hosting that they have been promising for almost a year (not counting the CF 
Card USB host adapter).  Perhaps one day, if they ever bring out the fabled 
USB Host version, I could try to replace the internal circuit boards of the 
Poma with a Gumstix board and wire the Poma HMD connector into the Gumstix.  
I would need the wiring specs for the display connector and I doubt 
Xybernaut would ever allow those out.

     Anyway, I'm rambling, sorry.

               Ben

>--
>Craig

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