SparkFun Electronics Commentsurn:uuid:214d0e4e-f1b1-d287-ce26-ac5b4c9f82492024-03-28T11:07:14-06:00SparkFun ElectronicsHelicopterGuy on Creating a Custom Tilt SensorHelicopterGuyurn:uuid:ced2ea00-cf5d-caf8-3d61-a3fb3807508f2014-03-04T11:31:22-07:00<p>Hey Pete - The parts I'm prototyping at the moment are completely mechanical, non-arduino (or beagleBone, or anything else) driven components for a kids' educational toy. That's not to say they can't show up at the AVC, or that I won't be showing up with new and different parts. But I will definitely be showing up at the AVC again!<p>And yes, I will definitely meet up with MM. I've wanted to keep production of my pieces in the US, and if I can keep them in Colorado, even better.</p></p>
TECH GEEK on Creating a Custom Tilt SensorTECH GEEKurn:uuid:7e21e922-eaac-0ea1-6627-bff76701ea572014-03-04T07:56:51-07:00<p>I lost most documentation in a house fire. Although there <em>might</em> be something hidden in my Email history.<p>I do remember pretty much everything that SFE would want to know if they were interested in posting about it on the blog.</p><p>Also the project was used to measure how deep a 6" wide well pipe was. So the echo was contained quite well</p></p>
QCPete on Creating a Custom Tilt SensorQCPeteurn:uuid:a31aa988-905e-21bf-63ee-43846a24bdb32014-03-04T07:51:36-07:00<p>Hey HelicopterGuy, You are welcome. If you are local, I would recommend meeting up with MM. You can learn a lot if you go take a tour and tell them about your project.<p>Any chance your prototype parts are going to show up at AVC?</p></p>
QCPete on Creating a Custom Tilt SensorQCPeteurn:uuid:99204414-f79f-b457-5d8a-d0e653448d802014-03-04T07:43:08-07:00<p>Hey Tech Geek, thanks for sharing. Sounds cool. And that precision ain't that bad! This sounds like it would make for a fun classroom experiment. Did you happen to document your hookup or take any pictures?<p>Also, were you able to use a square wave off of an Arduino pin to create the sound? I have found that analyzing sound with a mic and a micro can prove to be difficult. Were you processing the raw AC signal from the mic? We have recently tried to make detecting sound a bit easier with our new <a href="https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12642" rel="nofollow">Sound detector</a>. I'm not sure if our sound detector could be used in this way to detect a specific signal, but if you were in a quiet environment, then maybe it would work.</p></p>
QCPete on Creating a Custom Tilt SensorQCPeteurn:uuid:1ad52b0c-a177-3159-fa3d-2cfad212eeb92014-03-04T07:35:38-07:00<p>Thanks for your comment. It is always exciting to hear that the cost of design and manufacturing (of any sorts) keeps coming down. It really enables inventors to get a product up and running (even for sale) with much less investment. And with services available like Kickstarter, you can even ensure some sales before spending a large investment.<p>What was your snap-together-box for? I imagine that took some careful tweaking to get the leg thickness and overhangs just right. From my experience with the tilt sensor, the snap feature was the most difficult. Lucky for us, having a 3D printer allowed us to get really close with trial and error, rather than using the difficult calculations.</p></p>
HelicopterGuy on Creating a Custom Tilt SensorHelicopterGuyurn:uuid:f611e051-2792-ac6c-c496-59f4fbadcefb2014-03-03T16:11:02-07:00<p>Really cool, and really good to know there's a local place for injection molding. I'm currently prototyping several pieces on a 3D printer to test for fit, but will need someplace to mass produce, should I be able to get it to that stage. Thanks for sharing not just the the process, but also the local businesses who helped make it possible.</p>
TECH GEEK on Creating a Custom Tilt SensorTECH GEEKurn:uuid:01e6cb08-3b6f-971c-a37f-400439fac5252014-03-03T14:46:35-07:00<p>I remember helping a student make a custom distance sensor using only a Arduino, a big speaker, and a mic. Amazingly it was off by ~6inches at 200+ feet.</p>
QCPete on Creating a Custom Tilt SensorQCPeteurn:uuid:f4d9e75d-2c00-00a7-2c43-448a6372528d2014-03-03T14:32:03-07:00<p>Hi Scott, For a similar plastic part (in size and complexity), you can expect to pay 6-8K for tooling. The complexity is a huge factor in cost. Because our tilt part has a cavity, it required a 3-part tool: Two sides that slide outwards and a core pin.This basically doubled the cost of the tool. If you have a part that can be made with a 2-part tool, it would be more in the 3-5K range.<p>About time commitment, I think you can expect that you and the tool maker will need to adjust the part a few times to get the design ready for production. So if you were really quick, and the molding company was really responsive (which was the case with MM), then you may be able to get from idea to parts in 4-6 months. I'm sure a more experienced mechanical engineer would have spent less time designing than I did, and they may have avoided any necessary revisions.</p><p>I asked Modular Robotics to 3D print our first prototype in January of 2013, and the finished product went live on January 9th, 2014. So all in all, it took about a year. Although we did have the parts in hand by Dec 2nd, so design, tooling and manufacturing was more like 11 months total. I would also like to mention that during the past year this was not my top priority project. I am the quality control manager here at SparkFun, so quite often my immediate responsibilities would kick Simon Tilts to the back burner.</p><p>Also, I would like to mention that it was really great working with Mountain Molding. I'm sure they would be very happy to answer any more questions you may have. You can contact them here: http://www.mountainmolding.com/contactus.php</p></p>
Scott_S on Creating a Custom Tilt SensorScott_Surn:uuid:62d93c1a-0423-e673-3776-ae8910f558cd2014-03-03T13:14:09-07:00<p>Hi Pete,
How long did the mold design and mold making process take and about how much did it cost?<p>Thanks,
Scott</p></p>