Magnetic Keyswitch

[HaaTa]

Now this is an interesting mechanism...



Unfortunately there are some dead components on this boards so I haven't been able to test it out.

Military keyboard contractor built this one, but didn't sell it. What computer is this keyboard for?
Bonus points for the patents involved.

[Ascaii]

looks a little like the RAFI hall effect switches, though the stem is slightly different. Hall effect switches are used in a lot of military and heavy duty industrial applications.

[ripster]

Animal, mineral or vegetable?

[Matuka]

Animal, mineral or vegetable?

Ripster, you're playing the game wrong! It's:
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Other or Unknown?

[HaaTa]

So people don't get off on the wrong track, these are NOT hall effect. Not to give too much of a hint, but the switches do not have individual circuits (the transducer) like hall effect switches do.


And heh, not Magnetic Reed either:

[ripster]

Looks mineral to me, like most electronics.

Over 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of silicate minerals, making silicon the second most abundant element in the earth's crust (about 28% by mass) after oxygen.[4]

[HaaTa]

And a hint for those that have browsed geekhack far too much over the past few years. The manufacturer of the keyboard has a keyboard on the ISS.

[HaaTa]

No bites? The manufacturer is http://www.cortroninc.com/.

Still looking for a keyboard brand and switch patent though

[ripster]

Let us know when you find those.

[HaaTa]

Find it? The patent numbers are on that sticker

I want someone with too much time, to find me some more info.

[Ascaii]

send me a picture of the sticker and ill look into it when i have time

[ripster]

I hate playing 20 questions when there is no right answer.

[HaaTa]

Heh, sure, the patents are kinda neat.



The only question that is left to answer, what brand is this keyboard?

[webwit]

Hmmm... it doesn't strike me as a Logitech. Am I right?

[HaaTa]

Lol, no.

Another hint. Company created the first computer GUI.
Oh, and the company isn't obscure.

[ripster]

AH!

I know this one.

Microsoft!!!

Ask Steve Jobs. Oh wait.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

[Findecanor]

You're making it too easy. It is Xerox.

[ripster]

Steve Jobs didn't steal from Xerox PARC. He "enhanced".

After Jobs returned from PARC, he met with a man named Dean Hovey, who was one of the founders of the industrial-design firm that would become known as IDEO. “Jobs went to Xerox PARC on a Wednesday or a Thursday, and I saw him on the Friday afternoon,” Hovey recalled. “I had a series of ideas that I wanted to bounce off him, and I barely got two words out of my mouth when he said, ‘No, no, no, you’ve got to do a mouse.’ I was, like, ‘What’s a mouse?’ I didn’t have a clue. So he explains it, and he says, ‘You know, [the Xerox mouse] is a mouse that cost three hundred dollars to build and it breaks within two weeks. Here’s your design spec: Our mouse needs to be manufacturable for less than fifteen bucks. It needs to not fail for a couple of years, and I want to be able to use it on Formica and my bluejeans.’ From that meeting, I went to Walgreens, which is still there, at the corner of Grant and El Camino in Mountain View, and I wandered around and bought all the underarm deodorants that I could find, because they had that ball in them. I bought a butter dish. That was the beginnings of the mouse.”



Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011 ... z1eSv9u552

Now MICROSOFT......

[kps]

Another hint. Company created the first computer GUI.

Ivan Sutherland was a PhD student, not a company.

[HaaTa]

Heh, finally. It's for the Xerox 820-II PC

[HaaTa]

Next question (I don't really know the answer to this one, yet).



Which company manufactured the "S8344" microcontroller? I've seen the branding on quite a few keyboard chips, but haven't figured out which company by the datasheets I've found. It's likely an Intel compatible microcontroller (one that I can't ROM dump...).

[kps]

Which company manufactured the "S8344" microcontroller?

The S is the logo of Signetics, best know for the 555.

There's an Intel 8344, which is an 8051 variant with an on-board high speed serial controller. If this is a second-sourced i8344, there would have to be a ROM connected to the address/data lines (21-28,32-39).

[HaaTa]

Thanks!

[woody]

8051 is such a luxury compared to the 8048.