e-NABLE Device Catalog Re-organization and Re-design
Engineers and makers of the community would benefit from a more visual means of exploring the devices, and more details relevant to structure and mechanisms of the unique devices available. I propose a funding opportunity to update the Device Catalog.
Here is my bareboned proposal, all ideas and suggestions are welcome! My aim is to try to improve the experience of future engineers that join the community, and make better use of their time.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q7Q6e-UzOe1Lz3SLUmX_nraniR-izTyHib0mjEG6yR8/edit?usp=sharing
Adam Armfield
Mon 23 Aug 2021 8:18PM
Not sure what problem this is solving. The enabling the furture page used to have a page with all the devices listed with fotos and videos of the build. It looks like it has been pulled from the top menu on the landing page but can be found here: https://hub.e-nable.org/s/e-nable-devices/wiki/overview/list-categories . Not disagreeing but abstaining at this stage as i cant see the value (then again we work in Colombian pesos and US$3k is clsoe to an annual (minimal) salary for a student so maybe ive lost perspective with US funds and return on investment.)
Ben
Mon 23 Aug 2021 8:18PM
Alexander has been engaged in almost every level of our public communty activities and regular meet-upssince he joined the Hub. His workshop and new design series have been appreciated contributions and he continues to search for way to be involved and improve resources.
I would suggest a more realistic timeline. Best to under promise & over deliver. I'd put the duration at 3 months, aim for 1 month quietly and accept the likely 2 months, while still being ahead. Bravo on patiently working through iterations of your concepts and being open for feedback.
I'm looking forward to following this project and collaborating ahead!
Leland Green
Mon 23 Aug 2021 8:18PM
I think this is a great idea and will help the entire community. ❤️
Donna Zimmerman
Mon 23 Aug 2021 8:18PM
I was planning to abstain because I didn't see how yet another page showing devices was going to help. But your bluntness in answering Adam Armfield (thank you) in pointing out what is missing is spot on. We are a community and thus no one is the boss. However, engineers want to solve problems and work on things that matter. I tried to get a repository for test results previously and got minimal response. I would be glad to share with you what I have so we can help guide volunteers to work that will make a difference.
Adam Armfield Mon 23 Aug 2021 10:36PM
Thanks for explaining. We as a team have not been engaging much with the hub thsi year though we have made some new designs and mods to current designs which we will be sharing shortly. Im sure our engineers would find your suggestions useful. Ill be changing my vote to approve.
Alexander (Maverick - EU-RO) Mon 23 Aug 2021 10:41PM
thanks so much :) again, sorry if it came off a bit brutal!
Alexander (Maverick - EU-RO) Tue 24 Aug 2021 10:25AM
It would appear the loomio page is slightly bugged, the issue is still unknown, let me know if you see this message and you might have a solution. The page blanks quite a bit of itself, and is missing certain comments.
Alexander (Maverick - EU-RO) Tue 31 Aug 2021 11:43AM
@Donna Zimmerman you've mentioned something about a repository for test results? Anything I can do to help? What was that meant to end up as?
Donna Zimmerman Tue 31 Aug 2021 6:20PM
Hello Alexander,
I worked with Maria Esquela and set up on the Enable Alliance Website to call for tests. Look here
https://enablealliance.org/ under “get involved”. I put a couple requests there for people to test hands under particular parameters and share their results. I requested that people fill out a form in order to share
data that they had taken. Unfortunately, other than the examples that Eric Bubar and I put on there, no one submitted any data. Perhaps no one could find this link?
Please let me know what else I can answer.
Donna Zimmerman
Department Chair, Advanced Automation and Robotics Technology and Industrial Technology
Ivy Tech Community College
3501 First Avenue
Evansville, Indiana 47710
(812)429-1468 ( tel:%28812%29429-1468 )
https://ivytech.zoom.us/j/8202952613 by appointment
Latest Ivy Tech COVID information https://www.ivytech.edu/coronavirus.html
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Alexander (Maverick - EU-RO) · Mon 23 Aug 2021 10:19PM
@Adam Armfield I might have been poorly explaining the thing, so I'll try to be more specific, sorry if it comes out as too blunt. Firstly, US$3k is just above the minimum wage for a graduate robotics engineer in UK, where I graduated. Secondly, it's supposed to cover the project, it's not per month. I need to survive for whatever time I need to complete the tasks, which might easily be 2 full-time months of work.
As for the explanation. I have been "playing" on the Hub for the last 8 months. Except for the last week, I believe you'll find I have liked and commented on nearly all posts from the past many moons, trying to get involved and help as much as possible wherever I can. I am however an engineer firstly, and I like to believe I have quite a bit of skill and experience for my age.
From my point, the Hub is really really bad at welcoming engineers, and even more so at keeping them interested. Engineers come on the hub, figure out the community ain't doing anything serious, and get back to their life. Jon has quite a bit of experience for that. That happens due to 2 reasons: there is no leadership, no one to ask and to promptly respond with a very specific task that needs doing; and there is no engineer friendly description of the devices, or easy way to navigate. if I need 10-20 minutes in the device list, just to figure out the one device I actually wanted to check out, I'm better off designing my own separately and forgetting about the Hub. and the fact that you need to build the devices in order to figure out BASIC specifications and data about them is INCONCEIVABLE. no datasheets, no specs, no nothing. As a mere student I find this really unprofessional, I shudder to think what real engineers would think of this.
Put it this way. for all my time here, I have only been given hints to what might be needed, even when I asked specifically the community with polls. Nobody knows what needs to be done, and nobody wants to take the responsibility: not for making a better environment, not for leading. Well I am holding on with my teeth to this Hub until we either get that, or I do it myself in some other way. Call me stubborn, but I am yet to learn how to give up.
Finally, the point of the project is to be a first step for something bigger, and prove to the community that I really am useful. The final aim is, in my vision, to start orienting the Hub into doing proper research into prosthetics, and achieve more of it's potential. 1/3 of the people here are educators and university students, and yet most of the work done around here is just redoing other's work, because it wasn't shared in a systematic manner. And the other 2/3 are either passionate people or professionally relevant people. And we are wasting their time, instead of using everyone efficiently. I am an engineer, and I enjoy the most the design and test part, the pure research. However, faced with the option to become a 'leader' or 'community advisor' for the R&D side of things, if no one else will take it, then I will step up with pleasure.
I apologize if this came off too gritty or blunt :) Maybe it's the hour (1am here) maybe it's the open culture that I come from. I really like the Hub and the entire e-nable initiative, and I've been spending the last 3 months working or thinking at the hub and prosthetics for most of every single day. This project is also an excuse to find a way to support myself while dedicating even more time towards these goals.