Brooks Technology - Major Projects and Clients

Consulting

Before starting any job it's important to hammer out a specification for what is expected. Communication skills are an essential part of this process because many clients don't have the detailed technical understanding of what it takes to convert that napkin drawing into a real product. Flexability is another requirement! Without exception, every design I've started has had more than one mid-course correction, most often from the clients themselves.

A consultant must also keep up on the ever changing tecnologies of the day! But, there is so much to know, it's best to focus ones skills. I now intend to take my knowledge and experience of Microchip PIC controllers and expand into the rapidly growing Android market. The need for Android to external embedded controller functionality is very high, with many large corporations getting involved. As part of that effort I am prototyping an embedded controller with Bluetooth and jumping into Android programming. I've found some unique programming tools from Anywhere Software (Awesome software: Imagine being able to create an App for your smartphone with no prior knowledge of the Android OS, or JAVA for that matter within one day). Tools like these are critical to today's fast turn-around environment. Also, due to my interest in blind and vision impaired accessability I am also researching how blind accessability to the Android platform might be achieved with simple touch screen gestures and TTS voice response.

I looking forward to talking with my next prospective client, and I hope to add your project here soon!

MAJOR PROJECTS AND CLIENTS

AUDIBLE ASSISTANT: A portable keyboard with LCD and speech synthesizer, note taking device for the blind. (2006-2007)

Audible Assistant provided a convenient means for the blind and vision impaired to take notes, operate a calculator with text to speech output and help. The Audible Assistant was based on an existing platform I'd designed previously for a client and was an attempt at my own product. Hardware included USB, NiMH batteries and charger, X86 CPU, flash drive, speech synthesizer, internal speakers or earphones. Audible Assistant included a self-teaching tutorial, explaining all keys, functions, etc, and with a built in typing tutor. A blind person with minimal instruction could easily learn to use the device. Written in Power Basic. As development neared completion the platform supplier could not continue production due to his supplier problems and I was unable to put the product on the market. .

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