Personal Shorthand Alphabet

I could have learned shorthand to speed up my note-taking ability but I decided to create my own version instead.

I replaced nearly every letter in the alphabet (k was redundant) with a symbol that can be written quickly and simply. 

In order to create the greatest efficiency the most commonly used letters, like the vowels have the simplest symbol to replace them, in order to speed the writing. Also all of the symbols were chosen to ensure that the pencil always moved forward and never backward, which would be a waste of motion. (j, x, and c were the exceptions)

I use this shorthand system now in conjunction with the normal alphabet until I am better aquainted with my own creation. Once I have practiced enough, the mechanics of the letters will speed my writing significantly. It will also keep people from asking to use my notes.

Thumb-Biased Smartphone GUI

How many of use are able to use our smartphone with only a single hands. Not many, most of us hold the device with one hand and use the finger of our other hand to navigate and select buttons. This is because using the thumb of the hand holding the device usually isn't very easy.

Most App buttons today are designed horizontally. Stretching across the screen to allow for symmetry and a limited ability to use the thumb. But with the tap of  just-2 buttons becoming the standard should we not work to optimize a one-handed UI?

So I have started to incorporate an idea I had into my projects. It is a Thumb-Biased GUI. What I have done is made the GUI adjust to the dominate hand of the user. If I have an app that simply needs the user to tap a few times for approval or the like, then I create, instead of a large horizontal button button, a tall vertical button set to the side of the screen near the thumb.

This system let's the user operate the app with the hand holding the device, with little to no fear of smearing across the wrong buttons, especially if there is only a single button. And the user doesn't have to work as hard to reposition the phone so that their finger aligns with the buttons.

You can see a general outline of my GUI concept below.

Images from a Ranch

Images from a Ranch was a photo book that I published with photos that my little brother had taken while we worked on the home ranch. It is actually the first book that I ever published.

BowlClaw

The BowlClaw was a quick idea for a way to pull hot bowls from a microwave and pack them around. It is just a solid piece of wood/plastic that you could keep in the with your potholders.

WISE

WISE was a book that was made from essays on my blog When I Say Eureka. I started to publish the book but when  I looked at the first copy I decide to wait a little longer to grow and focus the book more. I expect to have a fully published version by, no later than winter of 2015

TIMDS

TIMDS. Thoughts. Ideas. Minds. Designs. Sketches.

TIMDS is a blog dedicated to great design ideas. Whether for aesthetics or function. Whether they had a large impact of a small one. Whether they are conceptual or manufactured. I wanted to create a place where designers and inventors, such as myself, could go and get inspiration from the great ideas that are created by others everyday while recognizing the significance of those ideas.

I intend to grow TIMDS into an independent entity/business as opposed to just a side-project blog. But in the mean time, I just like writing about the stuff that I think is awesome.

PaperWeb

PaperWeb was an effort by UniMech to revive the dwindling newspaper industry. I was unique in the fact that it combined printed newspaper format with internet content through the use of a kind of augmented reality setup on the page.

We didn't get the response we wanted from our test printing so the idea was abandoned though I still think it has potential.

MyGlass

I had some spare time so I decided to throw this up on Quirky. It is just so I don't keep losing my drinking glass midst my family's

3-D Advertising

These were advertising that I came up with for one of my businesses. They are good at grabbing attention. People will definitely see this no matter how many other normal flyers are around them. They also can just be dropped without having to pin them to anything.

Tension Desk

This was a thing I came up with when I was working on making furniture that could be stored and moved more easily. This certainly does it. The prototype looks like junk because that was all that I had laying around. When I rebuild it it will be solid stock and will have a much better look similar to the CAD drawings. I use the prototype for a design desk, since I can easily change the angle of the surface.

    

"Whop" robot toy

The Whop was a toy that I made for my baby niece. A project that started as a robotic pet turned into an oversimplified walker. It is incredibly soft and cuddly and when the antennas are touched it walks forward with a simple waddle. I will probably return to this project to make it a full blown automation but it is still awesome as is.

       

A Giant Leap

A Giant Leap is a screenplay that is tells the story of a groups of friends that create a new space technology and try to get it to work and fly. It is focused mainly on human achievement, leadership, and entrepreneurship.

I finished the script in the fall of 2013 and it is currently under evaluation by studios.

HeritageTold.com

www.heritagetold.com

This is a project that I am particularly proud of. HeritageTold is a website dedicated to storing the wisdom and experience of generations before they are lost. Today everything is stored on facebook or twitter but what about the generations before the computer. These people do not communicate on the computer and they are slowly being lost and thier experiences with them. Heritage told is working to collect the experiences from these people before they are lost. 

We currently take submissions in text but are working to enhance the site with video and voice recording. We're are still in early development.

The Talking Pancake

www.thetalkingpancake.com

The Talking Pancake is an online custom pancake business that I am working to get off of the ground. People will be able to go to the site and construct their mixes from my list of ingredients. Below was our pitch video. While I failed on Indiegogo to get funding I have moved to an Etsy store that will get me rolling for less capitol

Bring 'R' Up

bringrup.com

This is a food courier service that has become a subsidiary of my company Universal Mechanisms. Bring 'R' Up delivers groceries from local stores right to the customer's door using only a generic shopping list provided by the customer on our site.

Three Minute Classes

This is an Youtube education series where I took any topic and create a three minute informational video about it. In this way people are able to get information fed to them in a visual manner quickly and easily. I did videos on topics ranging from chess to American History.

YouTube Video

Embry-Riddle Innovation Lab

This is one project that I am very proud of thus far. Embry-Riddle has had an apparent lack in space where students such as myself could work on personal innovation outside of classes. So, since 2012 I have worked with some friends to create a maker/design space on campus. We have the space up and running now we have to continue the grow the Maker influence on campus

Addendum: The lab is still operating and continues to be frequented by students. My involvement has ended as I will be graduating in 2015, but I still use it. The lab is fully accepted by the campus administration and there is talk of another being built. 
Here is the website for the Innovation Lab 

Club "Innovation"

This was a club that I started Freshmen Year at Embry-Riddle that was intended to be a lot like Benjamin Franklin's Junto. It would be a group of like-minded people that would be able to meet and share and pursue ideas  that they as individuals couldn't do. It was meant to be a way to pool resources and be able to allow people to make their ideas a reality.

While to me it was a good idea it just didn't get the response that it needed to continue. This was partially my fault because I didn't have crystal clear direction for the club and screwed up how it was supposed to operate. But there was also just a limit of interest from the student body that made it difficult for it to be a worthwhile use of my time. But with that said, if I have time again and a few more friends that would be willing to help with it I would start it back up again.

Universal Mechanisms LLC

Universal Mechanisms is the parent company to many of my other ventures that are business related. We focus on innovative concepts in engineering, design and business.

UniMech was originally a robotics company based on the modular, Model R hobby platform, but quickly morphed into a more general product design firm.

UniMech was shut down in 2014 in order to be rebranded as Slant Concepts.

Quickbot from Model R

This was a project that I made to demonstrate how easy it is to create a working robot with the Model R platform that I designed for Universal Mechanisms LLC. So I grabbed some surplus drill motors (one of my favorite power-cores) and a model truck battery with a couple of switches and built this guy in under an hour. Gross and ugly, but it showed the concept.

Model R

This project is the development of the Model R modular hobby robotics platform. It was recently presented in an uncompleted form on Kickstarter.

This is the link to the Universal Mechanisms website                          er

Universal Mechanismsg                                 

                        

RC System for New Holland TV 145 Tractor

I was contracted to build this system for a local rancher so that he could control his tractors from a wagon that they pull so he alone could complete a certain task, which used to require two people.

I completed a product form of this system several months ago that the rancher is using extensively. The very first test of the project can be seen below. 

It is much prettier now, believe me. It looks nothing like the first draft prototype in the video.      

Test of RC Tractor System

Un-powered Exoskeleton

This project is meant to be the implementation of an exoskeleton that uses no power to offset loads that workers and soldiers must bear in their respective environments  I have made several prototypes that have proven the concept. I am currently refining the design.

Longboard Electric Illumination Concept

This project was an attempt about a year ago to implement electro-luminescent lights into long boards, skate boards, and even snow boards. Below are pictures of the first quick proof-of-concept.