E-Clerk hardware thoughts

["Jonathan Wolfe" <jwolfe@MIT.EDU>]

E-Clerkers - below are thoughts and suggestions for hardware to be
ordered.  Please give any and all feedback!

Touchscreen:

It's already sitting in the hardware bay and supports Linux.  This one's
taken care of.

Box:

Here's two preliminary options that I've priced out quickly on Dell's
web site, links to follow.  Option 1 is a souped up dual processor
workstation, stats at
http://graphics.lcs.mit.edu/~jwolfe/research/dell1.html.  Option 2 is a
quad processor machine (with less powerful processors but 4 of them)
which I believe Dell slates as a "server," stats at
http://graphics.lcs.mit.edu/~jwolfe/research/dell2.html.

First, the rational behind many processors is to load balance more
immediate tasks (responding to the user, capturing video frames and
microphone input) with batched tasks like the scanner and OCR in order
fulfill one of our most important design principles - fluidity of
interface.  I believe the issues here are cost and how effective 4 vs. 2
processors would be.  Dell only sells their machines with either
Windows, Red Hat x.x, or no OS.  I believe the current plan is to run
VMWare on top of a Linux distribution, so either Red Hat or no OS
(installing Debian ourselves) would be a good plan.

Scanner:

The original scanner planned for was the Epson Perfection 1640SU (with a
document feeder of 30 sheets).  This scanner is still available and is
supported under Linux with either drivers provided by Epson's Japanese
division or the SANE project.  The resolution on it is 1600 x 3200 with
42-bit color.  There is an HP that is slightly less expensive (by $100 I
believe) that is 2400 x 2400 with 48-bit color and a 35 sheet feeder,
but I don't believe it's supported by SANE yet.  It seems that we should
stick with Epson.

Microphone:

This one is straightforward.  We should stick with the Netcom
directional array used by SLS for GALAXY.  I met with Michelle Spina
(see below for more about this) and she said there might be one sitting
around we could borrow, but that they're also rather inexpensive.  If we
end up purchasing one, we should ask for the best place to get it.

Camera:

The original camera slated for this was the QuickCam express, which
takes "up to 30 fps at 320x240," which might not be enough resolution
for what we're looking for.  The other QuickCam products don't seem to
be supported the same way as the QuickCam express, which has its own
sourceforge project.  Thoughts?  Is the express good enough?


Michelle was quite helpful - she gave me an account to access the
affiliates website for GALAXY which lists the system requirements.  I'm
still waiting to hear back form her in regards to the Oracle components
of the system, as we would need Red Hat Linux for that (Oracle doesn't
support Debian Linux).  The hardware listed is 800MHz+ Pentium III with
recommended 1GB RAM, which both machines above cover nicely.


I would love to order the equipment ASAP, any feedback would be
super-helpful.

Thanks!

-Jon