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Good tablet for tactical wrist computer?


vailixi

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I thought it might be cool to make a tactical wrist computer. I'm thinking a 7" tablet would be idea for this. I don't know much about tablets though. But I'm looking for something I can easily install a debian based linux on. Some pluses I'm looking for:

Removable stoage

Flashable

can run a real linux distro

USB data ports

shock resistant

water resistant

decent batery life

quad core

2 gb of memory or better

Doesn't cost a ton

Any of you guys have more experience with tablets and want to suggest a model?

Edited by vailixi
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I don't expect you'll be making something like the Orion Wrist Computer in Chuck, but if you were to make a wrist-PC, it would have to be based something preferably no bigger than 15cm x 8cm. I don't have a tablet to contribute, but I have made a rather interesting discovery of this device: http://cicret.com/wordpress/

It projects an Android Phone's screen onto your arm, allowing you to control it from your wrist.

Hope you find this interesting!! :)

-MB60893.

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Reading your post made me remember this device I came across months ago

http://rufuslabs.com/

Would be cool to have something like this that could run Linux, maybe even Kali nethunter.

Its almost a pip boy :D

If you're looking to make something yourself, the nexus tablets or even a nexus 5/6 would probably work well and you can find them cheap used.

Edited by J5x86
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  • 2 weeks later...

So you want to make a pipboy?

It's going to cost. With all that you've listed this will not be the cheapest thing around.

That gave me an idea. I found a photo from a build someone posted

Maybe something from molded plastic or 3D printed.

http://hypercats.deviantart.com/art/Pipboy-3000-build-comparison-195511490

Then and maybe finish it off with some cool woven paracord. Maybe put a survival kit in it.

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To be honest, you could take your mobile phone to one of those hollywood prop building shops and ask them to create a latex (or whatever) thing that you can encase it in. Either that or, as you said, a 3D printed something which has the benefit of potentially pre-existing shapes that would fit your phone.

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They're not cheap, by any definition, but have a look here.

http://www.shop.juggernautcase.com/main.sc

For those that don't like to hit links... :tongue:

1424807001501-1040884053.jpeg

You'd think they would have come up with a more positive attachment than a single strap in the center. For $300+. But kudos for selling it to the army and getting paid. One more reason to hate paying taxes.

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Having 1 strap probably means it's easier to make it both bigger and tougher. It also means that this strap can itself be fairly wide, allowing it to be used to attach other gear to. I was originally thinking they should've made that cable attach on the other end so you don't have to route it under the strap, but doing it like this means there will be considerable strain relief on the cable and its connection to the device. Chances are someone worked long and hard to work out all the use cases and how to make this perform well in all of them. If the military OK'd the thing you can be sure someone wearing it has been violently rolling through the dirt all day for at least a solid week without ANY consideration for the device and came back saying it kept on working.

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You'd think they would have come up with a more positive attachment than a single strap in the center. For $300+. But kudos for selling it to the army and getting paid. One more reason to hate paying taxes.

Look at the product page. It's not just the single strap.

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True the Juggernaut does make other tactical armbands look like complete crap. But most of the other armbands are junk you find on ebay from like Flyye tactical or Condore and those brands don't really fit my definition of tactical. They're more like airsoft gear honestly.

Pretty much if it is securely fastened and not flopping around it's legit. Waterproof and shock resistant are a must. Mounts as securely and closely to the body or gear as possbly while still allowing for personal comfort and maximum mobility. In a combat environment my biggest concern would be the device doesn't get hung up things while I'm climbing through a window or something like that. Because getting your gear snagged is a bummer. But I'm more looking for something to take with me on day trips just for a quick way to interface with the other computers I'm carrying in my backpack without pulling out a laptop and typing away every time I want to check something out or issue commands.

But really I would probably own one of these things right now if not for the price. $300-600 for wrist mount is really steep.

A regular sports armbands start around $10.

Stuff to implement in design.

waterproof

shock resistant

durable

lightwieght

gear compatible

ergonomic

affordable

Anything to consider?

Edited by vailixi
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True the Juggernaut does make other tactical armbands look like complete crap. But most of the other armbands are junk you find on ebay from like Flyye tactical or Condore and those brands don't really fit my definition of tactical. They're more like airsoft gear honestly.

Pretty much if it is securely fastened and not flopping around it's legit. Waterproof and shock resistant are a must. Mounts as securely and closely to the body or gear as possbly while still allowing for personal comfort and maximum mobility. In a combat environment my biggest concern would be the device doesn't get hung up things while I'm climbing through a window or something like that. Because getting your gear snagged is a bummer. But I'm more looking for something to take with me on day trips just for a quick way to interface with the other computers I'm carrying in my backpack without pulling out a laptop and typing away every time I want to check something out or issue commands.

I'm going to kick myself for saying because people tend to use my ideas and not give me any creds but here goes: It should be MOLLE compatible. Or maybe picatinny rail mountable so it can go on a weapon. Though I couldn't be sure if recoil forces would eventually shake the tablet or phone apart. It might be fun to try though. Even more so put a webcam into optics and use the tablet for viewing so you can safely look around or shoot around corners. There's a probably a pretty good market for rail mounted cameras if a person wanted to get into making them.

But really I would probably own one of these things right now if not for the price. $300-600 for wrist mount is really steep.

A regular sports armbands start around $10.

Stuff to implement in design.

waterproof

shock resistant

durable

lightwieght

gear compatible

ergonomic

affordable

Anything to consider?

They make weapon mounts for cell phones already. Lets you use your ballistics app while shooting. Probably wouldn't hurt the phone, but I wouldn't put a brand spanking new one on there. I'd use some kapton tape to secure the microsd and sim card if the phone has them. I lost a really good flying pineapple crash video because the microsd card ejected from the camera on impact. It actually left the wreckage. Took me two hours to find the damn thing in the grass. I really wish lifeproof made cases for more phones. They make some of the best waterproof cases I've come across. If I had a 3d printer it probably wouldn't be too hard to come up with a forearm mount for a cell phone. I'd make it latch onto an existing ruggedized phone case.

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I'm thinking what you really want is that kickstarter project for a short-throw projector wristband that shows your phone screen on your forearm and allows you to type on your arm as you see fit.

While I'm utterly convinced that the technology isn't there yet, primarily because of the power constraints, the concept's pretty cool.

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I'm pretty sure the videos on YouTube are an animation but the tech exists to make it happen. Basically it's a mini smart board. So really you could detect touch on a projected surface. Calibrating the thing to the shape of your wrist and you skin tone and features is doable. I'm not sure about all of that is a small package. All of the software required to make this work already exists.

The older smart boards use a projector and I remember there being a program you could use the would do a best fix if the screen was ripped or warped. There were a lot of really smart math people worked on that stuff. They are a huge money waster for the government and corporations looking for write offs. But they kick ass to play video games on.

The first real problem I see with the short throw projector is that one a sunny day the light isn't going to be bright enough to overcome the sunlight. You'd probably find yourself in the shade a lot interacting with your wristband. So it's less of hardware or software issue. Oh snap! I just thought of the solution. Use an infared imitter and put a polarizing filter that will allow you to see the IR reflection. Problem solved. Oh the IR goggles are a great hack if you want some cheap night vision. The problem is obviously the infared totally gives away your position to anyone who has infared capable night vision goggles.

IR would make for a pretty sick high contrast interface. UV is probably an option or basically just use some wavelength of light that is less common in the everyday environment. Then just filter out the other wavelengths of light. With IR you would have another layer of security against shoulder surfers as well. Many security cameras won't pick it up. Many cameras can be disrupted by IR if it's bright enough so you could effectively cloak yourself. There's another perk.

Just on the hypthetical. That sounds really cool.

Edited by vailixi
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I'm pretty sure the videos on YouTube are an animation but the tech exists to make it happen. Basically it's a mini smart board. So really you could detect touch on a projected surface. Calibrating the thing to the shape of your wrist and you skin tone and features is doable. I'm not sure about all of that is a small package. All of the software required to make this work already exists.

The older smart boards use a projector and I remember there being a program you could use the would do a best fix if the screen was ripped or warped. There were a lot of really smart math people worked on that stuff. They are a huge money waster for the government and corporations looking for write offs. But they kick ass to play video games on.

The first real problem I see with the short throw projector is that one a sunny day the light isn't going to be bright enough to overcome the sunlight. You'd probably find yourself in the shade a lot interacting with your wristband. So it's less of hardware or software issue. Oh snap! I just thought of the solution. Use an infared imitter and put a polarizing filter that will allow you to see the IR reflection. Problem solved. Oh the IR goggles are a great hack if you want some cheap night vision. The problem is obviously the infared totally gives away your position to anyone who has infared capable night vision goggles.

IR would make for a pretty sick high contrast interface. UV is probably an option or basically just use some wavelength of light that is less common in the everyday environment. Then just filter out the other wavelengths of light. With IR you would have another layer of security against shoulder surfers as well. Many security cameras won't pick it up. Many cameras can be disrupted by IR if it's bright enough so you could effectively cloak yourself. There's another perk.

Just on the hypthetical. That sounds really cool.

So that's basically any light. The sun pumps out way too much ir and uv to be doable during the day. That and if you're going to wear goggles that let you see ir, may as well just pump the display of your devices into them.

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I agree as long as the width of the tablet approaches the width of your lower arm. Once it exceeds it too much it'll just get in the way. In that case going for a phone of sufficient size would be the smarter option.

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Yeah I'm thinking a 7" tablet would be fine. The 4" width would be ok. Anything bigger is just to clunky. Anything smaller is lame because I don't like squinting or trying to read up close.

I'm thinking I'm going to go with Kydex for the holder and some 50mm webbing with velcro. Not sure on padding it under the Kydex portion. But I think Kydex, rivets, webbing, and velcro I'll be into it for about $20 in materials. Maybe a bit more. I need the waterproofing. It will be affordable but not be a piece of junk. Not $300. And more importantly custom.

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Yeah I'm thinking a 7" tablet would be fine. The 4" width would be ok. Anything bigger is just to clunky. Anything smaller is lame because I don't like squinting or trying to read up close.

I'm thinking I'm going to go with Kydex for the holder and some 50mm webbing with velcro. Not sure on padding it under the Kydex portion. But I think Kydex, rivets, webbing, and velcro I'll be into it for about $20 in materials. Maybe a bit more. I need the waterproofing. It will be affordable but not be a piece of junk. Not $300. And more importantly custom.

That's going to be huge on your arm. Here's my Note 2,

IMG_20150721_075257-0.jpg

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I think the cell phone as the tactical arm tablet is better than a "tablet" per say, and should be more than enough to do what you want. An old iphone or even ipod touch might be smaller form factor than some of the other phones. I have a Kyocera Hydro Vibe which is small compared to most of todays touch screen phones, but is also semi waterproof and dust-proof. Not the greatest phone in the world, but is fairly rugged even without a case, and all you really need to do is build your own encasement while leaving the touch screen enough room to be used. If you want your own customized ROM with tool you want on it though, go with something like a Nexus, which can run kali linux, so you have a full linux touch desktop on your arm.

I probably should have link to this originally:

http://www.nethunter.com/images/nethunter_labs_01.jpg

http://www.nethunter.com/

Edited by digip
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