Joe A**** repeated his promise this time referring to "deliver DC-60GHz IC by Friday, if not then Monday" and having 1 sample already, waiting for 3 to add.
After I mentioned A****tech's management going to MTTS in CA, he was so excited that he said it's possible he will see ****ad there & hand over samples, IF his agent can't make it to Lincoln Ave. by Friday.
Whatever. It's free so he is taking as much time as he pleases!
As of EEG development: FYI: Last year I was interviewed by Grass Instrument's worst competitor, on
****Island however (Grass is in RI, not far from Vishay-Dale corp. whose passive Components foundry I also visited, in Warwick).The job involved very high power yet low freq. amps, over 100Watt definitely, I was told scores of applicants were rejected & so was I - due to lack of experience in extremely high power amps. They're used in Surgeries & Pain Relief (EM pulse kills nerves or heats up precise areas). I did NOT even apply, some recruiter forced me saying I might fit (as usual recruiters have no technical background and make assumption about clients that they fit into whatever). So interviewer started making circles around A****tech & ****Nano***** on my Resume
God, I started pitching about A****tech's "Lowest Noise ****** " so hard, that he spent time discussing A****tech, then between words he asked what ****circuits part# we used at ****Nano****.
Inquisitive interviewer - likes to get information, even if not hiring. So, not sure how everything is connected - but I tried to lodge a promotion for A****tech in his mind, because they do NOT make amps, they USE them & PATTERN GENERATORS by ordering from someone else, they use them in ECG, EEG, Surgery, Pain Relief.
And here's the surprise! There's a co. here in Haupp***, ny RIGHT NEXT TO ***EQ Inc. It's called
**xx** Systems and it does nerve signals reading from patients (to check if the guy on operating table is dead or still functioning & how well). It used to be located at the END of O**er Avenue facing New Highway (woods), but they moved close to **teq recently (b/c original location was "boondocks" (?).I was there a few years after college (in ****), and have knowledge of how product works. Much of it is covered by NDA, so it's closed for you. But some things are called "experience" & that I can share - legally, as a Designer.
Next, For mixed Ana-Digital Systems, as your Cybernetics project appears to be (?) what I I've experienced in the past 2 years is: The best Patents or IT protection is by using Firmware. Hardware will be inevitably copied one day, esp. by countries on the "rise" (China) to whom reverse engineering is accepted behavior (but never forget their contribution to US economy in a form of cheapo engineers & scientists, 40% of Microsoft's global workforce is Asian!). Because theoretically one cannot crack firmware once it's compiled into hashcode. You can ask Mick if I said something "cryptic'! I did Firmware for 2 companies in recent 2 years, focusing on Microchip Technology Inc. as the MCU vendor (MCU is the IC chip you write firmware for). Some people prefer Motorola, TexasInstruments, Atmel (big competitor for Microchip); and some people do it whole life as a career so they know multiple vendors.
So why I wrote so much today? I think your project brings back good memories from decades ago and it looks like going in circles except each decade on a higher level.
MIND CONTROL OF HOME APPLIANCES, OR ANY OTHER TARGET WAS FLOATING AROUND SINCE BEFORE WORLD WAR II. All my conscious life in Europe I was subscribed to popular magazines what you call in America "Popular Electronics", and stuff, but no longer published here (UK & Germany still publish such magazines b/c their population unlike Americans is still interested).
So one month in late 1980's (when I was a teen) they were writing about mind-controlled projects, 30 years ago MCU's & uP's (Microcontrollers & Microprocessors) were expensive, so control was basically "ON"/'"OFF" type of thing. For example, turn light on or off, start train replica running or stop it, it was as useful as turning light on/off by clapping your hands or making sound, or when a human passes by (infrared, heat, capacitive, inductive, etc coupling) so why bother with such finicky, costly yet limited mind control? It was pretty useless. considering cost vs. usefulness. But guys were playing with it for the same reason Bell was playing with telephone & Edison was playing with electric bulbs prototypes centurie(s) ago. This is what propels progress.
So now when you started talking "Cybernetics" - this & Robotics was already superhot after World War II, but then it became another fad fading away, then another cycle - each time we get to a higher level.
So it's back! Mind-control has been preoccupying engineers for a long time, only thing I fear is giving it to a Fighterjet/Bomber Pilot and weapons to be activated b/c mind control is unreliable. People can have wrong thoughts & individual peculiarities, epileptics can completely screw up a Mind-Reading headset, so it's 'Determinism" is very low comparing to just pushing a button/joystick (HID device) or speaking with your voice (voice recognition). It's a dangerous thing but great b/c it creates jobs & helps handicapped people.
Its use for handicapped & military was discussed in my memory in 1980's even in popular magazines, let alone serious academic ones. Even Government was excited, b/c most people think it can be "deterministic". In actuality it's not quite deterministic yet - the error rate when you think "turn AirConditioner on" can be satisfactory, but for complex things like "write "hello" on screen" is so complex that best minds work on it and still we use keyboards & mice!.
========================= Stan Starinski Web: