Project update 13 of 14
We’ve had printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) for the Stenosaurus for several months, but I’ve only recently been able to begin properly testing it. Here are the tests I’ve run so far:
In short, everything is going well, though there’s a lot more testing yet to do. Next steps include:
That’s pretty much it for the major subsystems. Once those are tested and check out, we move on to actually programming the Stenosaurus to be a working steno machine that interfaces to Plover via the TX Bolt protocol. This is where Hesky’s good work from a few years ago (I can’t believe it’s been so long) will really shine. If things go well, his code that worked on an early development board will need only a bit of modification to work on the current prototype.
Of course, even if things go perfectly, I already have a short list of minor improvements I want to make to the board, which will require another production run. This list includes updating the style, positioning, and type of LEDs, moving the JTAG connector so its shroud doesn’t interfere with nearby components, and revisiting the need for a JTAG connector in the first place (might use a pogo pin jig instead).
Progress is being made. Stay tuned.
Cheers, Josh