16-06-2024, 10:46 PM
Robotron Pty Ltd was a company from Kilsyth, Victoria that designed and produced the BeeTalker & BeeThoven for the Microbee as well as some very specialized computers for the blind. I recently visited the owner & designer Milan Hudecek as well as Richard Collett (of Dreamdisk fame) in their Melbourne office and was presented with a lot of their original documentation.
They produced the EasyTalker and our Microbee software TalkStar (a Wordstar clone) uses the EasyTalker to talk/read out text and since they made the BeeTalker also, but unfortunately it doesn't work with it, as the EasyTalker and BeeTalker are VERY different units. Milan also wrote BeeComposer to allow you to compose, play and save music using the BeeThoven. This is already in the Repository, but we now have the manual.
They made the Eureka A4 in the late 80's, a computer that had a Braille keyboard, voice output, in-built modem, a rich portfolio of wordprocessing, educational and personal organizer functions, ROM-based operating system, and even a sophisticated music composer. Stevie Wonder was one of the first users. The Eureka A4 attracted a number of international awards, such as the Rolls-Royce Qantas Award for Engineering Excellence, Winston Gordon Award for Technological Achievement in the Field of Blindness and many others. It was eventually superseded by a much smaller and more powerful Aria, but its spirit of achievement lives on, for its users and creators alike.
So in the Vintage Repository in the new Robotron folder we placed these files and folders
advertising_letter_about_competition_and_notes.pdf
robotron_letterhead.pdf
Aria folder
adsp-2165_datasheet.pdf
aria_personal_digital_assistant.pdf
aria5.jpg
BeeComposer folder
beecomposer_manual.pdf
beecomposer_hand_drawn_pcg_graphics.pdf
BeeTalker folder
beetalker_design_notes.pdf
beetalker_parts_list.pdf
beetalker_pcb_artwork.pdf
beetalker_pcb_layout.pdf
beetalker_pcb_layout_update.pdf
beetalker_schematics.pdf
beetalker_schematics_update.pdf
BeeThoven folder
a_sound_introduction_into_beethoven.pdf
ay-3-8910_datasheet.pdf
beethoven_design_notes.pdf
beethoven_hand_drawn_pcb_layout.pdf
beethoven_parts_list.pdf
beethoven_pcb_artwork.pdf
beethoven_pcb_layout.pdf
beethoven_schematics.pdf
EasyTalker folder
coding_allopones_for_speech_synthesis.pdf
easytaker_promotional_photo.jpg
easytalker_brochure.pdf
easytalker_flyer.pdf
easytalker_installation_notes.pdf
easytalker_introduction_eti.pdf
easytalker_introduction_eti_84_11.pdf
easytalker_memory_and_port_map.pdf
easytalker_original_hand_drawn_pcb_layout.pdf
easytalker_pcb_layout.pdf
easytalker_schematics.pdf
easytalker_user_manual.pdf
laughter_listing.pdf
Eureka A4 folder
eureka_a4.jpg
eureka_a4_base.jpg
eureka_a4_braille_computer_and_personal_organizer.pdf
eureka_a4_inside.jpg
eureka_a4_keyboard_back.jpg
eureka_a4_serial_number_label.jpg
eureka_a4_the_arrival_of_the_new_concept.pdf
first_thai_speaking_computer_for_the_blind.pdf
stevie_wonder_using_eureka_A4.jpg
stp-a4_serial_to_parallel_cable.jpg
They produced the EasyTalker and our Microbee software TalkStar (a Wordstar clone) uses the EasyTalker to talk/read out text and since they made the BeeTalker also, but unfortunately it doesn't work with it, as the EasyTalker and BeeTalker are VERY different units. Milan also wrote BeeComposer to allow you to compose, play and save music using the BeeThoven. This is already in the Repository, but we now have the manual.
They made the Eureka A4 in the late 80's, a computer that had a Braille keyboard, voice output, in-built modem, a rich portfolio of wordprocessing, educational and personal organizer functions, ROM-based operating system, and even a sophisticated music composer. Stevie Wonder was one of the first users. The Eureka A4 attracted a number of international awards, such as the Rolls-Royce Qantas Award for Engineering Excellence, Winston Gordon Award for Technological Achievement in the Field of Blindness and many others. It was eventually superseded by a much smaller and more powerful Aria, but its spirit of achievement lives on, for its users and creators alike.
So in the Vintage Repository in the new Robotron folder we placed these files and folders
advertising_letter_about_competition_and_notes.pdf
robotron_letterhead.pdf
Aria folder
adsp-2165_datasheet.pdf
aria_personal_digital_assistant.pdf
aria5.jpg
BeeComposer folder
beecomposer_manual.pdf
beecomposer_hand_drawn_pcg_graphics.pdf
BeeTalker folder
beetalker_design_notes.pdf
beetalker_parts_list.pdf
beetalker_pcb_artwork.pdf
beetalker_pcb_layout.pdf
beetalker_pcb_layout_update.pdf
beetalker_schematics.pdf
beetalker_schematics_update.pdf
BeeThoven folder
a_sound_introduction_into_beethoven.pdf
ay-3-8910_datasheet.pdf
beethoven_design_notes.pdf
beethoven_hand_drawn_pcb_layout.pdf
beethoven_parts_list.pdf
beethoven_pcb_artwork.pdf
beethoven_pcb_layout.pdf
beethoven_schematics.pdf
EasyTalker folder
coding_allopones_for_speech_synthesis.pdf
easytaker_promotional_photo.jpg
easytalker_brochure.pdf
easytalker_flyer.pdf
easytalker_installation_notes.pdf
easytalker_introduction_eti.pdf
easytalker_introduction_eti_84_11.pdf
easytalker_memory_and_port_map.pdf
easytalker_original_hand_drawn_pcb_layout.pdf
easytalker_pcb_layout.pdf
easytalker_schematics.pdf
easytalker_user_manual.pdf
laughter_listing.pdf
Eureka A4 folder
eureka_a4.jpg
eureka_a4_base.jpg
eureka_a4_braille_computer_and_personal_organizer.pdf
eureka_a4_inside.jpg
eureka_a4_keyboard_back.jpg
eureka_a4_serial_number_label.jpg
eureka_a4_the_arrival_of_the_new_concept.pdf
first_thai_speaking_computer_for_the_blind.pdf
stevie_wonder_using_eureka_A4.jpg
stp-a4_serial_to_parallel_cable.jpg
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ChickenMan
ChickenMan