Bored Owl - the important role of our Eddie testers in user focused design:
One thing we’re sure of in Bored Owl is what role we each play in creating good hardware… The design and prototyping is done by Jonathan and our new employee Rohan who has been helping build printed circuit boards. The testing/breaking-in is done by Rohan, Patricia and any Eddie testers we’re collaborating with. We’re so excited to have people interested in testing Eddies, but we’re always happen to have more. We’re happy to support you during the testing process so you can connect, collect data and give feedback on how you found using the hardware and dashboard.
If you’re keen to try testing an Eddie just let us know. Email: dev@boredowl.com.au and let us know how you’d like to try using Eddie.
User Focused Hardware Design for Eddie:
In order to make our Eddie's user friendly for non-experts in software and hardware design we're incorporating the following fundamental elements:
- Plug and play and connectors, that only fit in one place in the Eddie setup so you can't make mistakes which cause failures.
- Cables for connection are provided so that everything securely connects into place and there are No loose wires to cause problems later on.
- Power adapters are provided so you are ensured to use the correct power adaptor for your Eddie.
- Eddie modules are provided with rails which can be attached to din rails if you want to put Eddie in an electrical enclosure for outdoor use and feet which can be attached to Eddie rails if you want to sit Eddie on your lab bench.
30 Second Challenge: Get Data Fast!
We've taken all the feedback from user interviews and we've given ourselves an awesome challenge....based on feedback from lab technicians in high school science labs.
The challenge: create Eddie's hardware and software such that a user (without experience with Eddie) can plug an Eddie system together out of the box it arrives in and get it collecting data from sensors within 30 seconds.
We are keen at the end of BETA testing to know how close we are to meeting the challenge and if we need to make design changes to meet it. If you want to be part of the process, just join us as an Eddie tester!
Removing frustration from the process of building a measurement system is what Eddie is all about. We want whether you are a student in a lab, a researcher, or an engineer that the initial part of the process to be as frictionless as possible in terms of your experience so that your energy and effort and time can be directed into fine-tuning your measurement system and making the most of the data you collect.
Reinvention - the reuse and easy duplication ability that comes with a modular system like Eddie
One challenge to investment in creating a new measurement system is really visible at the end of the process but not something we often consider at the start. What I mean is what happens if you don't need your measurement system anymore? or the reverse can also happen...what if you need to create another one because it was so useful?
The answer to the first part of this conundrum is a modular system design which is easily reconfigured. This design feature is key to Eddie's design, in the Micro-Hubs you can choose different Uniprobes to connect different sensors. With the Eddie multi-slot design you can choose different cards to get different CPUs or multiple CPUs for your system. You can also extend the number of sensors connected to your system by connecting new Uniprobes to the existing Uniprobes.
The answer to the second part of this condundrum is within Eddie's software. It is easy to copy your existing K4 code and libraries for K4 into your new Eddie system so you exactly duplicate the functionality of your existing Eddie system.
We love that Eddie allows for reuse of parts because we don't want to create e-waste. We are surrounded in our lives by electronic products that have a short useful life and end up as e-waste.
We love reinvention and education so much that if you decide you don't want your Eddie system anymore instead of sending it to e-waste, just send it back to Bored Owl and we will refurbish it and provide it to the community for education purposes at low cost to cover refurbishment and handling only.
In Summary, our Philosophy on Design:
Good hardware shouldn't make you feel like a genius for getting it to work; it should just work so cleanly that you forget it's even there, allowing you to focus on your discoveries.
Eddie is designed for: foolproof plug and play, fast time to data, re-invention and expandability.
Keen to find out for yourself what Eddie is all about?, contact us and nominate to become an Eddie tester today!
