summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/blog/thors-hammer/index.html
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorjaseg <git@jaseg.de>2023-12-30 16:38:02 +0100
committerjaseg <git@jaseg.de>2023-12-30 16:38:02 +0100
commit458a5fdfc598517b9fbddd02d3e1ae7cc70ceb9d (patch)
tree0ba3319ddb214bc65dd402de13939cb9ca283574 /blog/thors-hammer/index.html
parent9ee28abd5041ebbbc8acd39ddc84ca37e7255076 (diff)
parent58d54c5debedca8c91b28026f520b226ac8682f6 (diff)
downloadblog-458a5fdfc598517b9fbddd02d3e1ae7cc70ceb9d.tar.gz
blog-458a5fdfc598517b9fbddd02d3e1ae7cc70ceb9d.tar.bz2
blog-458a5fdfc598517b9fbddd02d3e1ae7cc70ceb9d.zip
deploy.py auto-commitdeploy
Diffstat (limited to 'blog/thors-hammer/index.html')
-rw-r--r--blog/thors-hammer/index.html96
1 files changed, 96 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/blog/thors-hammer/index.html b/blog/thors-hammer/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2bbea5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/blog/thors-hammer/index.html
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html><head>
+ <meta charset="utf-8">
+ <title>Thor&#39;s Hammer | Home</title>
+ <meta name="description" content="">
+ <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
+ <meta name="mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">
+ <meta name="color-scheme" content="dark light">
+ <link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css">
+</head>
+<body><nav>
+ <div class="internal">
+
+ <a href="/" title="Home">Home</a>
+ <a href="/blog/" title="Blog">Blog</a>
+ <a href="/projects/" title="Projects">Projects</a>
+ <a href="/about/" title="About">About</a>
+ </div>
+ <div class="search">
+ <div id="search"></div>
+ </div>
+ <div class="external">
+ <a href="https://git.jaseg.de/" title="cgit">cgit</a>
+ <a href="https://github.com/jaseg" title="Github">Github</a>
+ <a href="https://gitlab.com/neinseg" title="Gitlab">Gitlab</a>
+ <a href="https://chaos.social/@jaseg" title="Mastodon">Mastodon</a>
+ </span>
+</nav>
+
+ <header>
+ <h1>Thor&#39;s Hammer</h1>
+<ul class="breadcrumbs">
+ <li><a href="/">jaseg.de</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/blog/">Blog</a></li><li><a href="/blog/thors-hammer/">Thor&#39;s Hammer</a></li>
+</ul>
+ <strong>2018-05-03</strong>
+ </header>
+ <main data-pagefind-body>
+ <div class="document">
+
+
+<p>In case you were having an inferiority complex because your friends' IBM Model M keyboards are so much louder than the
+shitty rubber dome freebie you got with your pc... Here's the solution: Thor's Hammer, a simple typing cadence enhancer
+for <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS/2_port">PS/2</a> keyboards.</p>
+<figure data-pagefind-ignore>
+ <video controls loop>
+ <source src="video/thors_hammer.mov" type="video/h264">
+ <source src="video/thors_hammer.webm" type="video/webm">
+ Your browser does not support the HTML5 video tag.
+ </video>
+ <figcaption>A demonstration of the completed project.
+
+ <a href="video/thors_hammer.mov">h264 download</a> /
+ <a href="video/thors_hammer.webm">webm download</a>
+ </figcaption>
+</figure><p>The connects to the keyboard's PS/2 clock line and briefly actuates a large solenoid on each key press. An interesting
+fact about PS/2 is that the clock line is only active as long as either the host computer or the input device actually
+want to send data. In case of a keyboard that's the case when a key is pressed or when the host changes the keyboard's
+LED state, otherwise the clock line is silent. We ignore the LED activity for now as it's generally coupled to key
+presses. By just triggering an NE555 configured as astable flipflop we can stretch each train of clock pulses to a
+pulse a few tens of milliseconds long that is enough to actuate the solenoid.</p>
+<figure data-pagefind-ignore>
+ <img src="images/thors_hammer_schematic.jpg" alt="The schematic of the PS2 driver">
+ <figcaption>The schematic of the driver stretching the PS/2 clock pulses to drive the solenoid.</figcaption>
+</figure><p>Since PS/2 sends each key press and key release separately this circuit will pulse twice per keystroke. It would be
+possible to ignore one of them but I figure the added noise just adds to the experience.</p>
+<p>Built on a breadboard, the circuit looks like this.</p>
+<figure data-pagefind-ignore>
+ <img src="images/thors_hammer_breadboard.jpg" alt="The circuit built on a breadboard">
+ <figcaption>The completed circuit built up on a breadboard and attached to a keyboard.</figcaption>
+</figure><p>Since my solenoid did not have a tensioning spring I used a rubber band and some vinyl tape to make an adjustable
+tensioner. The small orange USB hub serves as an end-stop because I had nothing else of the right shape. The sound and
+resonance of the thing can be adjusted to taste by moving the end stop, adjusting the tensioning rubber and tuning the
+excitation duration using the potentiometer. My particular solenoid was a bit slow so I added some pieces of circuit
+board as shims between the plunger and the case to limit the plunger's travel inside the solenoid core.</p>
+</div>
+ </main><footer>
+ Copyright © 2023 Jan Sebastian Götte
+ / <a href="/about/">About</a>
+ / <a href="/imprint/">Imprint</a>
+</footer>
+<script src="/pagefind/pagefind-ui.js"></script>
+ <script>
+ if(navigator.getEnvironmentIntegrity!==undefined)document.querySelector('body').innerHTML=`<h1>Your browser
+ contains Google DRM</h1>"Web Environment Integrity" is a Google euphemism for a DRM that is designed to
+ prevent ad-blocking, and which Google has forced into their browsers against widespread public opposition.
+ In support of an open web, this website does not function with this DRM. Please install a browser such
+ as <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/">Firefox</a> that respects your freedom and supports
+ ad blockers.`;
+
+ window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => {
+ new PagefindUI({element: "#search", showSubResults: true});
+ });
+ </script>
+ </body>
+</html>