TRKBRD surface touchpad puts your weekend DIY project to shame, probably
By Ross Miller 
posted August 23rd 2009 3:49PM
posted August 23rd 2009 3:49PM
[Via Make: Online]
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posted August 23rd 2009 3:49PM
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Eh, mines better...
Hilarious.
Psssh. Is that what we're calling challenging these days?
Looks cool, but since it works by detecting shadows, does that mean it's virtually useless in low light/very bright light environments? Does it work with more than one light? Seems a bit too limiting. Props to the guy for making it though.
If it's detecting shadows, wouldn't it detect a shadow even if your finger isn't touching it?
i dont think he means "shadows" literally as he said it uses lasers.
im guessing, cause laser light travels straight, its the shadow cast on the opposie side
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idk correct me if wrong
No, it uses Infrared, and background lighting is not an issue. It is definitely a cool DIY project and an impressive use for the arduino controller, but this type of touch technology is NOT new. Many commercial displays use this type of optical/IR touch-screen technology since it has certain advantages over resistive/capacitive touchscreens, especially in larger installations.
hasn't this been done before?
http://tinker.it/now/2007/02/28/multitouch-table-experiment/
From the looks of it he is not using LEDs flashing hyper fast or infrared sensors... he is using two laser beams that are waving side-to-side (oscillating) the LED's are being used as the sensors.
so the laser beams hitting the LED's make it look like the lights are on - but in fact it is just the reflection of the lasers. By noting which LED's do not get lit he can calculate the position of the fingers.
the touch resolution will not be that high using LED's for sensors and instead of oscillating lasers I'd have thought he could make the beam into a line using the stem of a wine glass (or other glass cylinder) and alternately flick the beams on and off for the same effect.
I'm taking a guess here but from the layout and the videos i'd say you got your description wrong engadget ^_^
I don't get it. Is this really more practical or precise than current methods? I mean, capacitive screens are thinner, and probably require less energy to run. At best, this is an improvement on the Surface's camera-based finger tracking, but that is hardly a common item, and this looks like it will still be relatively expensive and bulky.
I don't mean to [poop] in this guy's cereal, because it's certainly more engineering work than I've ever done, but I just don't see a good application for it.
This guy is like the Flash Gordon of the tech world..., on crack.
*Video recorded using an iPhone 3GS at 4 fps.*
This implementation is pretty crude but this combined with an onscreen overlay makes way more sense then a touchscreen for desktops, especially if you implement the z axis.
Wow nice
Not gonna lie, I thought TRKBRD was Turk Bird. I didn't get it.
Pope is close. This guy is using two lasers on the bottom left and bottom right corners that have a special lens (cylindrical, like a wine glass stem) that shapes the beam into a line. Then, he has wired photodiodes along the left, top, and right sides.
At any single point, one laser is on. By detecting the shadows cast by your finger on either the left and top or right and top sides (depending on which laser is on), the position of the finger can be determined. By "oscillating", he means that the lasers are switching on and off quickly, so that there is only one laser on at any time. This is because the top side is shared, so he needs to do this in order to know which laser the shadow on the top side is coming from. There would be no point in "sweeping" with the lasers, since he is using the cylindrical. Note that this is very different from FTIR, "Jeffrey Han's method". Frankly, I think this method is better since there is no need for a webcam placed far away, so it can be implemented in a flat screen. Also, there is no problem from having to create a semi-diffractive layer for the projector screen which the webcam can still see through.
Very clever.
Now this, this is a great DIY project worthy of my readership. Unlike that total fail of a article about the wiipod. Have you people no shame? I'm embarrassed for you.
As a shameless plug, I'm working on something solewhat similar. It's a project called shinytouch (look it up on google code), a very very early prototype and worksby a cheap webcam mounted to the side of the screen or surface. From that angle many things are quite reflective and if you look at it from an angle you can look and see if the reflection "touch"es the real finger (which only occurs during a touch). It would be great if someone is willing to contribute to the project
Label me unimpressed. When do you start reporting on undergrad class projects?
(My senior design project was microprocessor-controlled, and that was almost 30 years ago.)
I dont see any shame.
This thing may suck as a touchpad, but it can be very useful on other kind of stuff.
I have something similar for my robot to detect the surface under it. (and other uses that Im not gonna give my idea out for free.)
And this is just a weekend project, I make craps in my bedroom every weekend and I think I've learnt more than those people with a higher GPA. (They came to me for advices on their senior projects.)
Since it is not a product, I dont see this is a shame.
My dog makes craps in my bedroom too!
I knew this technology sounded familliar... 18 years ago.
From the 1991 novel 'Jurassic Park' by Michael Chrichton (Page 342):
"Red light, all around the borders of the screen . . . What could that be? He moved his finger toward the light and saw the soft red glow on his skin. He touched the screen and heard a beep.
A moment later, the message box disappeared, and the original screen flashed back up."What happened?" Lex said. “What did you do? You touched something" Of course! he thought. He had touched the screen. It was a touch screen! The red lights around the edges must be infrared sensors. Tim had never seen such a screen, but he’d read about them in magazines."
You have to use a finger kept straight and not block anything with your hand, it's more an instant RSI device than a touch interface in this form.
Thanks for being interested in my project!
Here's a follow-up video, showing my original intent with the TRKBRD design... providing cursor control without removing my hands from the keyboard on my laptop: http://www.vimeo.com/6865687
Check out http://www.trkbrd.it/ and show your support.