Structural Calcs hand written 5

[JStructsteel]

Anyone use a electronic tablet for hand calcs? I dont usually do formal hand calcs, usually try to do a spreadsheet for that. But, sometimes just a quick calc, or a down and dirty calc i will do on paper and refine later.

Was thinking of a paper tablet to do this....if you dont know what I am talking about, one I am looking at is called ReMarkable, check out the website.

It will save and create a pdf, that I can then dump into my file folder, and reference back when needed. otherwise I find i have loose paper everywhere, and sometimes spend too long looking for it. (yes, I should be more organized).

Let me know if you think it would be worth it.

 

[milkshakelake]

@phamEng: I have a similar setup (XP-Pen Artist Pro 24). I use Excel along with its drawing tools (it's a hidden menu). It works well as a mix of computer and hand calc, and I've moved entirely to paperless calculations. It also has buttons on the side for quick things like changing the pen to eraser and opening folders. For quick notes, I use OneNote. I tried the portable/small tablet route and it doesn't work as well as a massive, immovable 2K to 4K display; the tech isn't there yet for small writing on a small tablet, like on paper, and it involves a lot of zooming in and out. It's also good for stuff like quickly marking up a drawing to send to an architect, client, or building official (using PDF-Xchange, Krita, OneNote). The best part is that I don't have binders and notebooks everywhere; it's a lot easier to stay organized. It speeds up my workflow so much that I have one in the office and one at home, and also a small tablet for site visits, but I rarely use that one due to the aforementioned problems.

 

[driftLimiter]

Has anyone tried the tablet/pen input method for the Sketch Module on SMath?

Having the ability to quickly hand draw a sketch on SMath and Im going to start looking into full digital workflow as well. My biggest use of the tablet/pen has been marking up drawings, sketching random thoughts especially during a meeting with clients etc. The feel of the pen on the screen is never going to cut it for me for manually writing hand calcs, it is much easier to for me to be neat and tidy using pencil/paper over that.

 

[milkshakelake]

@driftLimiter Not sure about SMath but the pen on screen thing takes getting used to. Some of the best art I've seen were done with tablets and screen tablets. For a desk setup, you need to adjust the angle and position of the tablet to something that works for your arm and eyes (it's a one time thing) but it helps immensely in getting straight lines. If SMath doesn't support sketching, you could use a dedicated sketch program like Krita and screenshot the image; I do that sometimes for programs that don't have sketching built in, though it's a bit more tedious, but it's far quicker than printing, marking, and scanning something (which was my previous workflow).

 

[phamENG]

milkshakelake - you might be the one who put me onto the XP, I'm not sure. I have the Pro 12. A 24 would probably make things a lot easier. But I custom built my desk to have the CPU tower on the left side before I ever thought of a writing tablet. I'm right handed, so now I'm stuck with cables that are too short. I imagine I can get extensions that would work after the split, but haven't bothered. Which tells me it didn't make it to that indispensable place in my workflow I'd hoped for. I'll probably spring for the new Kindle Scribe. I've been thinking about getting a Kindle Paperwhite for a while, but it was too small. This solves that problem, and I can play with using it as a notebook.

 

[Celt83]

It will be strictly for what I write. No images clipped in, no charts and graphs. Just a way to save what I write without having to scan. Something I can pack with my laptop, so mobile.

Sounds like one of these e-ink devices would be in your wheelhouse then your options in that space are:
Remarkable - Custom Linux OS. As Lo mentioned they recently walked back the subscription model so syncing to Onedrive is no longer behind a paywall. Their product is very much digital paper first everything else secondary as such the reader functionality isn't the best.
Supernote - Android based OS. Limited inking styles (believe there is no pencil variant), developers seem to have an active presence on the subreddit.
Boox Note - Android based OS. clunky OS organization and meh pen experience from all the reviews I've watched and read. Gets high marks from everyone for it's reader functionality and has a back light.
Fujitsu Quaderno - Android OS. Highest price of the bunch what reviews I have found have all been positive.
Kindle Scribe -Not out yet so no reviews, in the marketing video folks have noted some lag with the pen compared to the devices above.

To save some cash you could also look into a second hand surface pro, for your use case a Surface Pro 3 or 4 would be just fine (a gen 2 would work as well if you can find one with the pen). I use a first generation surface pro daily only issue I have is that the battery only last for about 2 hours.

I'm making a thing:

http://www.thestructuraltoolbox.com

(It's no Kootware and it will probably break but it's alive!)

 

[Lomarandil]

Alright, following a good quarter I ended up picking up a Supernote for testing. I'll put some feedback on the Electronic Note Pad topic after I've worked with it for a few days.

 

[TheDW]

Alright, following a good quarter I ended up picking up a Supernote for testing. I'll put some feedback on the Electronic Note Pad topic after I've worked with it for a few days.

I picked one up a few months ago after reading that thread. I love it as a daily planner and note taker. I find myself still using scratch paper for hand calcs for now, I think mostly because I am used to having my planner in front of me at all times.

I tried a bunch of pens and like this one at the moment: Link

with one of these clips added: link

 

[Celt83]

Lomarandil

I would be very curious to know how the reading experience is with this scan of the Carnegie Pocket Companion provided by AISC: Link

 

[Lomarandil]

Celt -- there's some pretty substantial screen flicker as it turns from page to page. So as a "reading experience" that would be fairly distracting.

However, the document appears with good clarity, and you can pinch to zoom around the screen (with a handy interface). Some of the linework does seem to lighten when zoomed in, so whether that actually aids readability will vary.

Imported as a "document" (rather than say through the kindle app), it is easy and very functional to add bookmarks, annotations and Supernote's "stars" to mark up a reference with working notes and shortcuts. My understanding is that this is viable for any PDF or EPUB file.

 

[XR250]

I don't use the cloud, at all... don't need to. It's amasing how much stuff you can put on a 10T HDD, and they are cheap.

Great plan until your house burns down or gets robbed.
Google backup works easily and seamlessly and keeps a hand full of older versions as well.

 

[Celt83]

Much appreciated Lo, that sounds promising. Which size did you end up getting?

 

[Lomarandil]

I picked up the A6X. About the size of a common planner notebook (138x188 physical, 116x157 screen).

Early use has been really promising for my use case.

1. As a digital notebook, it's easy to carry around, quick to find the right file for a given project or meeting, and pretty responsive to start writing. I have had some inputs lag/hang, but not too badly. Quite nice to be able to insert pages in between other pages to extend a set of notes. They just released note linking, which I am looking forward to using.

2. As a sketchpad, while the drawing tools are limited, it's been more than adequate for a quick whiteboard explanation to a junior engineer or a FBD to wrap my head around a problem.

3. I did successfully sync the device with my work email and calendar. Haven't done anything with that yet.

4. Writing feel wasn't the most important thing to me (I'm generally fairly adaptable), but all my colleagues who have tried it have commented on how much more natural it feels than an apple pencil, surface pen, etc.

 

[Lomarandil]

For anyone not following the other thread, update here:

https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=497244

 

[milkshakelake]

I present my experience, which is to use a big display tablet instead of a handheld one:

https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=499949

 

[JStructsteel]

Update, I got a Remarkable for Xmas. Will start using it, and post updates. So far easy set up.

 

[JStructsteel]

So 2 week update on the Remarkable. Its working out good. Not just for engineering, but other things too. Its a bit clunky at first, but once you get to using it, file management and what not works fine.
There are some third party software add ons that you can create custom templates, so I am messing around with my calc sheet letterhead. Right now I just have a 12 page PDF that I import and do my calcs, but with a template, it would be infinite on the pages, or just 2 or 3 for your calc. Either way is good.

Battery life is good, about once a week I charge, from a USB on my computer.

Uploading to drives you set up works ok (I use one drive, 3 different accounts, all set up). It only uploads to one location, so you have to go out and move to a project folder, etc.

Overall, without using anything else, I give it a 7 out of 10 for what I expected, and what I want it to do.

 

[dik]

Thanks for the update...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Celt83]

JStructsteel:
Thanks for following up, have you installed the latest firmware on it (seems to make the page have "unlimited" length which the reddit group seems heavily divided about)?

How well does it handle this scan of the Carnegie Pocket Companion provided by AISC: Link