wordy@cup.portal.com (Steven K Roberts) (03/25/89)
Steven K. Roberts Computing Across America uucp: wordy@cup.portal.com GEnie: wordy well!wordy HOME OFFICE WINTER LAYOVER 1306 Ridgeway Avenue 98 Sudbury Drive New Albany, IN 47150 Milpitas, CA 95035 812-945-1435 408-263-0660 _________________________________________________________________ The Winnebiko III Project Needs YOU! March 24, 1989 Help! I have a problem. As you may have read elsewhere on the nets or in various magazines, I'm in the process of rebuilding the Winnebiko -- the computerized, solar-powered, recumbent bicycle that has already carried me 16,000 miles around the US. The new system is intended for open-ended international travel, with enough on-board computation, communication, and power-generation resources to make its location on the planet essentially irrelevant. The design is developing well, and numerous subsystems are arising from the clutter of my temporary lab here in the wilds of Silicon Valley. But I've come to realize that hitting the road in this decade requires more manpower: wizards of all types, machinists, technicians, programmers, design engineers, PC fab houses, RF magicians, project-management heavies, and even a few crank-turners. I've bitten off a big one, and if I try to finish it alone I'll be old and fat by the time I return to the road (and the parts of the system finished first will already be obsolete!). Are you interested in hands-on involvement with the Winnebiko? There's no direct cash in it, but there ARE some distinct benefits... --> First and foremost, FUN. This continues to be the bottom line: that fundamental passion that makes our eyes light up at new gizmology, triggers dreams of future systems, and makes the whole idea of a computerized bicycle with real-time aerodynamic modeling, live mapping, navigation, CAD, solar power, regenerative braking, a handlebar keyboard, speech I/O, and a satellite earth station seem endlessly alluring. There is a delicious feeling of conquering steep learning curves, applying creative skills across a wide range of specialties, beating trade-offs by inventing new rules or breaking old ones, and generally exercising the brain -- for this project is unlike most work in industry in that cost is no object. We have over 100 corporate equipment sponsors, habitually choose the best of everything, and remind ourselves constantly that this is art as well as engineering. --> Second, there's glory in it. The system has spawned hundreds of magazine articles over the years, and I'm always happy to share the spotlight with those who have had a creative role in the design. If you're on a competitive career track, publication credits will dramatically spice up your resume; if you're looking for exposure, a few well-placed mentions are worth infinitely more than paid ads. --> Third, there's strong potential for indirect money in it. This comes from two sources: product spinoffs and consulting gigs. A number of these subsystems have potential in environments other than compu-bikes, and I'm starting to build joint ventures to get a few of them into the market before someone beats us to it. And consulting deals come my way constantly -- instead of my usual mumbled, "uh, no, I'm too busy," I now refer clients to the people who have proven their wizardry on related projects. One fellow has billed almost $50K in the last year as a result of such leads; another is just now bootstrapping himself into full-time freelancing on the strength of CAA referrals. --> Finally, there are all those other little things that add up. The Winnebiko design team (an ad-hocracy called Nomadic Research Labs) is a wild, networked community of kindred spirits: making contacts like this can have far-reaching consequences. You'll be kept current on the adventure, receiving a copy of my book and a free subscription the the Journal. And you just might be invited to trash your lifestyle and go for a long bike ride....... The Winnebiko III Before outlining specific projects I need help on, I should give you an overview of the new machine. After 16,000 miles, a number of deficiencies in the existing design have become apparent -- most notably architectural inflexibility as evidenced by the hardwired front panel. I'm tired of editing with a soldering iron, and the design is frozen in 1985 technology. The key to the new structure is a "resource bus" controlled by a 68000 running FORTH. This is the bicycle control processor (BCP), responsible for active management of everything on board via a SCSI bus, I/O processor, and a few high-speed serial links. The SCSI channel is expanded into a novel I/O structure that consists primarily of 128-point crosspoint matrices: Mitel parts that toggle an array of FETs as dictated by a field of RAM. Through these pass all serial, analog, and audio information on the bike. Other I/O is more traditional, tying to a standard I/O expansion bus. The effect of all of this, stepping back one level of abstraction, is a five "channel" bus (power, serial, audio, analog, data) that links the following devices in any imaginable combination: speech synthesizer low-power packet TNC all-mode RF data system UHF transceiver (business) 2-meter VHF transceiver UHF transceiver (ham, sat) 10-meter all-mode transceiver cellular phone cellular phone modem DTMF transceiver analog mux (with quad-slope D-A) fax and modem board console printer/plotter HF ham transceiver GPS nav receiver with temp LORAN auto transmission logic 286/386 DOS engine security system and pager audio cassette recorder entertainment electronics bike instrumentation package 49 MHz full duplex base unit speech I/O subsystem utility I/O board audio processing board MIDI system console DB-9 speakers and helmet headset switched loads such as lights the BCP itself Some of the interconnections, of course, would be absurd -- but consider some of the possibilities: Mobile phone patch between 10-meter ham QSO with Japan and cellular phone. Reconfiguration of packet datacomm to allow full remote console operations from manpack-laptop via UHF data link. Logging and diagnostics to disk file or console printer. Remote touch-tone commands to transmit local audio on 49 MHz or any other RF channel. Logging on to DIALOG and doing research while mobile. Introduction of audio filtering and other functions to enhance any communication mode. Synthesized security alerts that beacon the bike's exact coordinates on ham frequencies (or celphone 911) if it's ever moved without the correct password. Etcetera... On top of all this, there are two DOS environments -- one a robust 286/386 for the CAD applications and computer-generated maps from CDROM, the other a low-power V40-class board for basic editing. These share a 40 Meg hard disk through a LAN and present the basic operating environment beyond the FORTH that actually runs the bike systems. Two large console LCDs provide the bulk of the user interface, with a heads-up display a distinct possibility. A 640 X 480 VGA backlit DST LCD from Sharp is the main graphics display, but it requires a 2.5 watt backlight. When this is a drain on the power budget, the DOS systems can request a reflective super-twist 640 X 200 normally owned by the BCP. The HUD, if it happens, can be used by any system -- primarily for text, database, and map graphics from CDROM and GPS data. Incidentally, the large display will be set behind a surface acoustic wave touchscreen to help support interaction with the mapping package (point to "contact" icon for a pop-up text box with corresponding database contents). Speaking of power, there are 6 18-watt solar panels on the trailer, and 10 watts on the bike. These are bussed together to feed an array of switching power supplies associated with each battery, the status of which is actively metered by the BCP. The processor decides which battery bus is assigned to each load bus, switching them dynamically through a heuristic algorithm that attempts to track usage patterns and prevent loss of power on a dark night ride. The fallback position here is a variable-reluctance motor/generator embedded in the new rear hub, capable of sourcing enough power to run everything if I'm willing to put out the human effort. (Dynamic braking, by the way, is automatic -- a pot in the brake lever invokes this process invisibly before the hydraulic disc kicks in.) Communications includes cellular phone with modem as well as a very robust ham station. The most interesting part of this is the OSCAR satellite station (modes B & J), which uses a collapsible antenna and a pair of multimode transceivers to uplink 435 MHz through 12 dbdc gain and downlink 145 through 10 db and a preamp (or the inverse). Supporting this is software in the PC that integrates orbital elements into a real-time graphic display of satellite location and footprint, along with AZ-EL-Range data. I do have to stop the bike for this, of course -- the beam array when extended is almost 9 feet long. The BCP keeps busy doing things besides managing the bus and dealing with the handlebar keyboard and mouse -- it also controls the bike's new automatic transmission. Monitoring speed, cadence, torque, heart rate, and a subjective "wimp factor" keyed in at any time that indicates robustness of the engine, the system manages three Browning derailleurs covering 36 separate ratios. This seems a step backward from my existing 54 speeds, but of those, I use less than half. The key is range, provided equally well by the new automatic system. There's more, but it gets progressively more detailed. Suffice it to say that the overall intent is to expand upon the existing theme of my "high-tech nomadics" -- maximum communication and computation ability without any geographic or utility support requirements. The obvious practical reason is the enabling of open-ended freelance writing and consulting without concern for location (linked via a web of networks to base office and publishers, powered by the sun, etc.) The originally unintended spinoff is a growing set of relationships with sponsoring companies, many of which are now becoming involved in technology-transfer joint ventures as the importance of some of these systems becomes interesting to a wider segment of the population than computerized cyclists. And, of course, it is demonstrating through extensive ongoing media coverage a host of exciting new technologies... all flavored by fun and adventure that often seems too good to be true. The public loves it, while learning something at the same time. The Project Potential There are dozens of subsystems, custom parts, circuit boards, programs, packaging challenges, and various other system components that have to work together before the Winnebiko III can roll. Do any of these make your soldering iron, CAD system, or milling machine itch? The transmission control system: linking speed, torque, cadence, and cardiac sensors to a dedicated micro under BCP management, and developing the algorithm that will learn from observation of my own shifting patterns under varying conditions. Output is six bits that control a trio of Browning transmissions. Virtual front panel control for HF and satellite transceivers: using a micro to replace hardware front panels and present virtual radio consoles to the BCP screen. This may requires hacking of radio I/O logic, with the processor sleeping between commands to minimize RFI. The solar/battery manager: processor control of the entire charging and power-distribution function, including interface with custom switching power supplies (under construction) and a quad-slope A-D scanning system voltage and current values. This subsystem should include full profiling of battery performance to aid in resource management. CDROM-based mapping from GPS input: Nav data must be integrated with map data to produce a real-time wireframe model of surrounding areas, keyed by lat-long-el data to the database on hard disk. This is a big one. Subprojects here include GPS implementation, hooks into the map software, and the possibility of using a serious graphics engine to do the crunching. Regenerative braking controller, working with the variable reluctance motor inventors and the battery management team. A bonus here is the potential for assigning the 118 watts of solar capacity to the motor for a small power assist (though I won't have enough battery to run the bike on electric power). Trailer brake system: using a spring-extend double-acting cylinder built into the hitch and a pair of Mathauser hydraulic brakes, reduce the effective load of the trailer during braking to about 10% of its normal value. Heads-up display system: helmet-mounted LCD with associated optics and backlight (optional), perhaps with a steerable optical path to accommodate microfiche maps as well. Improved handlebar keyboard: waterproof, fast binary keyboard with thumb mouse or other pointing device and a few other controls. Must be ergonomically optimized and non-interfering with mechanical hardware... and must work well with the MIDI system in flute-emulation mode. Forward Reconnaissance Unit: This will only happen if the CAA team expands to include a nomad with spare cargo capacity, but it's interesting. Basically an RC plane with live video transmission via ATV channels back to a Walkman display. We're looking at the new Philips camera and AEA ATV boards, which have other applications on the bike as well. Audio matrix system: Based on the Mitel array and a replicated normalization amp, this allows processor-controlled interconnection of any number of audio sources and sinks. Best accomplished as PC board, since the 32X32 array has an identical amp circuit on every I/O line. Packaging projects: Beam antenna drawer, hard disk shock mounting, satcom area, and a variety of other attempts to protect delicate equipment in a brutal environment without robbing it of utility or making it too heavy. Trailer system, mechanical: New trailer design with solar roof, battery compartment, RF and power cabling, and integration of related subsystems like brakes and antenna mast components. Manpack system: DOS laptop with small solar panel, UHF packet system, and full duplex audio/video links. Must be rugged and waterproof... and it happens to be a model for a future commercial personal RF mailbox product. Antenna system: With the help of KLM, Larsen, and Telex, optimize HF, satellite, VHF, UHF, and cellular antennas for minimum weight and maximum utilization of shared cabling. Satellite GaAsFET preamps must be protected from transmitted RF. Video and Mini OCR system: CCD video to character recognition software... as well as to the FAX board (with suitable scan conversion). Same components transmit bike video to remote. MIDI system: start with commercial MIDI products (Yamaha DX100 and Breakaway's Vocalizer) and interface to the bus, removing standard keyboard and control panel and replacing with virtual ones driven by handlebar keyboard, voice input, and sequencer software. Peltier-based water server: Derive surplus solar or regen braking power and cool a Melcor thermoelectric device in a baffled water reservoir. A second Peltier device goes in the helmet for active body cooling on hot days, pumping heat out through a heat sink in the airstream. Software to accept scanned or other input and create bitmap images for output to the console graphics printer. These are primarily for on-the-road sponsor referrals. Countless other software projects, ranging from FORTH tasks to dynamic airflow modeling. The environment consists of three DOS platforms, the 68000 FORTH system, an I/O processor, a high-speed array processor, and a half-dozen dedicated micros on the network. I assume a laptop Mac will provide biketop publishing capability by 1990. Various mechanical projects as well: hydraulic rear disk brake, heavy duty headset bearing, new steering bearing, flip-down service/work stand for the whole bike, utility boxes, rear enclosure, etcetera. ... and so on. There are enough projects here to keep a whole party of creative people happy for months. If this were a company with a production deadline, I'd panic... as it is, I keep reminding myself that the bottom line is fun and this is artwork, not business. With that in mind, how do you feel about getting involved? I can be reached most anytime at 408-263-0660. The address at this temporary Silicon Valley layover is 98 Sudbury Drive, Milpitas, CA 95035. Network addresses are: GEnie: wordy WELL: wordy uucp: wordy@cup.portal.com packet: n4rve@wa4ong Thanks for your interest, and for putting up with this long document. Cheers from the vapors of Dataspace!!! -- Steve Roberts, High-tech Nomad Computing Across America y management team. A bonus here is the potential for assigning the 118 wat