Full Metal Jacket

[boosalis]

The 6000 as it is, is a rich boy\'s PDA and a poorman\'s Symbol Handheld replacement.  

I have a prototype that may see the light of day. It is an aluminum enclosure for the Zaurus 6000, the Zaurus Jacket and the two compact flash perifials.  The Zaurus is shock mounted in the case, which should at least double its fall capability.  

I am working on a keyboard cover to match right now, and once I get that I will take  it to beta for a customer with our software.

I doubt that this would be of interest to any hobbiest or enthusiest since it does add bulk. It is for companies willing to carry bulk (though not as much as the UPS box) in exchange for durability.  

These things are machined so there is some expense, but we might be able to get the cost down to something like 125-175 Federal Reserve Notes - our worthless paper we call money.

If so please post some feedback here.  I will try to get some pictures of it, as soon as I can get some batteries for the camera (in the old days we needed film)

I would like to get just the boards from Sharp and get rid of their case and plastic, but they did not even bother to return my email on such a request.  

There is one unknown here, and that is the negative gain for wireless communication (80211 and the CDMA card this thing houses). Any thoughts on this.

Hope to hear from you
-david

[Ethereal]

How much bulk, and is it self-sufficient in terms of carrying (belt loop/clip)?

[boosalis]

Ethereal.

Will post pictures of it today. Also will be looking at doing another prototype.

And I did get a reply from Sharp, they have forwarded my request to Japan.  The request was for getting just the boards, and the wire harnesses from them to build my own cases and keyboard(bigger). for my customers.  I doubt that Sharp Japan will say yes, but one never knows, as I am sure they are sitting on a pile of 6000 components.  

Are you with a company. If so, what is the market you are targeting ?

[boosalis]

I posted to our website some pictures of the Jacket we are developing.  Please take a look and provide comments.

I know it is lacking some what on the asthetics, but I think we can do better then this on the next go around as I am learning about this.

Also may go away from the Zaurus altogether, as we are talking to a single board computer manufacture about doing a Zaurus clone.

website:http://www.boosalis.com

[DrWowe]

Your website appears to be down.

[boosalis]

I do not have access to the website by its external ip address
can you try www.alltracker.com and let me know if that works

[boosalis]

DrWowe
website appears to be working.
maybe I have a type or hiddne charactor in the link
try www.boosalis.com.

[DrWowe]

It  worked now.  Was probably a temporary outage somewhere on the \'net.

[boosalis]

I think it is my network card actually.  Hope to hear the thoughts of the esteemed DrWowe.

[DrWowe]

Well..  as a mere hobbyist I doubt I would need one.  But if I was planning a Safari and was worried about my Zaurus being trampled by elephants, it might be just the thing.  

Actually, it really doesn\'t look any bigger than those boxes the UPS guys carry.  So, if you can save them some money, more power to you.  Are you going to weatherproof the encasing as well?

With respect to the wireless issue, perhaps you could affix a high-gain antenna inside the casing, and attach it the to the Sprint card or the internal wifi (with a bit of careful drilling).  Just a thought.

[boosalis]

yeh, it isn\'t for hobbiest.  But as an alternative to a Symbols box which are very pricy.  YOu can spend 3500 for a Symbols, box, more and not have all that you get with the Zauurs, but it is very ruggeded.

As far as weather proofing the Zaurus that is virtualy impossible as it does not have a membrane keyboard, and has a lot of cavities with contacts ( CF, SD, USB, power connection)

[DrWowe]

I didn\'t mean weatherproof the Zaurus, I meant weatherproof the whole enchilada.  Basically, sealing the Zaurus inside your casing.  You would have to come up with something clever to accomodate the sliding keyboard, but the casing could be manufactured with a sealed membrane over all the other holes and the touch screen.

Then, you could have a truly ruggedized 6000, that could scan barcodes in the rain and snow.

[boosalis]

well I guess for the most part it is water proof, as far as rain goes. Not puddles though.  

I\'d like to get a bigger keypad, a membrane keypad that would be weather resistant, but such a prototype would be very expensive around $1500 to reverse engineer the Sharp keyboard.  Thats why I was hoping some other company might be interested in doing this with me, so we can share the cost.  

Also there is the reset button, would have to create like a valve to cover the hole, and the valve allows a pin to penetrate it (like a basketball when you air it up).

Why Sharp designed this case this way is beyond me, maybe it doesn\'t rain in Japan.  And their truck drivers listen to classical music and are never rough. But, in America the Zaurus 6000L would not last a day if given to the guys who drives a truck.  Even to try and sell this to a trucking company, the Zaurus would not make the grade. The first thing a prospective buyer will do is throw the unit on the ground and step on it.  

Stay tunned for the second iteration.  Will post pictures of that when I get a chance.

[noromamai]

Hi,

I am looking to ruggedize a SL-6000 for use in a 'department' store and was looking for silicone jackets and could not find any, untill I saw this thread. Is the Full Metal Jacket still being worked on or better yet, has it been finished? Anything to prolong the life of the SL-6000.