Hearing in my right ear is rubbish, and my left ear is worse. One time, I went for a hearing aid fitting, and they were so uncomfortable that in a couple of minutes, I realized I was smiling less because that distorted my ear canal and caused discomfort. I wanted to make a bone-conduction hearing aid that more people could afford because those do not go in the ear. These already exist, but there are caveats. Also, these are different than cochlear implants.
There are a couple of problems with a homemade hearing aid. The first problem is that bone-conduction hearing aids require surgery to mount an anchor to the cochlear bone. I implanted a magnet behind my right ear to try a substitute. The software and programming in hearing aids are involved. There are open-source projects, and if I could get any sound, I could look to them. In the end, I found it took too much power to drive a magnet below the skin.
On the MIDIGlocken project, I still have some mechanical things to sort out. To start, there were crossed wires. Conductors were definitely backward when I connected the cord and solenoids. Wherever things were wrong, I decided I would switch everything in software to save work. If this were a product I hoped others would copy, I would put more effort into making it flawless so the code would follow.
The next problem was figuring out why one of the buttons would not show up in code. This button was connected to pin 13, which hosted the onboard LED. I ran out of spare inputs, so I desoldered the light, and my code worked peachily.
Now that I could trigger eight relays from eight buttons, I needed to figure out why the system would reset when I played a note. I feared that there was some nasty electromagnetic interference (EMI) coming off the solenoids, so I added flyback diodes across the magnet pins, and they operated politely.
Some of the metal I glued to the keys was coming loose. Vibration and sudden pulling probably didn't agree with the adhesive. I pulled them off, some of them popped off without resistance, and drilled a hole in the top of the hangers and into the plastic keys. The hanger holes were expanded so I could add a #4 screw, which seems to be holding better than the glue.
The rest of the summary posts have been arranged by date.
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Completed projects from year 6
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com and 24HourEngineer.com
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information on this blog, or linked by this blog, is not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of functionality, money, property, or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
Making a coil for a hearing aid experiment
There are a couple of problems with a homemade hearing aid. The first problem is that bone-conduction hearing aids require surgery to mount an anchor to the cochlear bone. I implanted a magnet behind my right ear to try a substitute. The software and programming in hearing aids are involved. There are open-source projects, and if I could get any sound, I could look to them. In the end, I found it took too much power to drive a magnet below the skin.
Testing an ear magnet
On the MIDIGlocken project, I still have some mechanical things to sort out. To start, there were crossed wires. Conductors were definitely backward when I connected the cord and solenoids. Wherever things were wrong, I decided I would switch everything in software to save work. If this were a product I hoped others would copy, I would put more effort into making it flawless so the code would follow.
Misrouted button
The next problem was figuring out why one of the buttons would not show up in code. This button was connected to pin 13, which hosted the onboard LED. I ran out of spare inputs, so I desoldered the light, and my code worked peachily.
Buttons triggering in order
Now that I could trigger eight relays from eight buttons, I needed to figure out why the system would reset when I played a note. I feared that there was some nasty electromagnetic interference (EMI) coming off the solenoids, so I added flyback diodes across the magnet pins, and they operated politely.
Flyback diodes
Some of the metal I glued to the keys was coming loose. Vibration and sudden pulling probably didn't agree with the adhesive. I pulled them off, some of them popped off without resistance, and drilled a hole in the top of the hangers and into the plastic keys. The hanger holes were expanded so I could add a #4 screw, which seems to be holding better than the glue.
Upgraded metal key
The rest of the summary posts have been arranged by date.
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Completed projects from year 6
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com and 24HourEngineer.com
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information on this blog, or linked by this blog, is not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of functionality, money, property, or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
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