After putting hundreds of hours in on the project (still a secret - for now) I figured out a much better way to do things. So I'm in the middle of a redesign. Maybe another week or two. Provided I don't get any more bright ideas. ;-)
I have been going hot and heavy and getting a lot of things done. Board layouts and such. I had figured out how to get around $15 or $20 worth of parts to get the job done. Quite elegant too. And then I started thinking. And looking at a $1.40 (singles) microprocessor (with some special circuitry inside) that could replace my $20 in parts. Of course the software is a little more complicated but the circuit is much simpler.
Needless to say a redesign is in order. I'm starting with a prototype set up using a commercial board (with some special add ons) and will migrate to the single chip design if interest warrants. The commercial board has extensive debugging features which will make getting things working easier. I hope.
Design News has an article on shaker flashlight knockoffs from China and how they are poorly designed. One of the commenters had an interesting story.
These are usually referred to as \"wanker\" flashlights, and no you have to look it up yourself. A friend who has a battery store thought these would be good for promotional give aways until I mentioned the name a friend in the UK had called them and the fact he was in business to sell batteries.. Trying to keep a straight face he got a customer to try one which promptly broke. These real cheap ones had a plastic tab as stops. Needless to say they were gone the next time I was there.The moral of this story? Low price isn't everything if the device doesn't work well. The other moral? Wasting your money on a cheap imitation could move you into the wanker category. Go for the real thing.
Posts
All Comments
. I can use the money - well actually I will use the proceeds to buy something from Amazon. I get a better deal that way.
