After the 6 and next batch of 5, we’ll be out of cases. If you’ve been following along you know our first injection molding factory was an absolute nightmare to deal with.
We have a new factory that we’ve been consulting with for almost a year. They seem really solid, and will rework the case to be easier to manufacture.
@jin sent a Bus Pirate and the current enclosure to the factory boss this week. They have a design team, so the first step is to see what they come up with.
I don’t image we get a lot of say about drastic changes. It will be designed for manufacturability, and that will dictate most of the look. There are a few things I’d like to tweak though:
Round the corners. As a way to distinguish the new case, I’d like to round out the four sharp corners. The board inside has rounded corners, so it should be possible to give it a softer edge.
Widen the AUX connector access. The AUX connector fits snugly, but it can be a pain to get in there and pull out. I’d like to make the slot a bit wider with angled walls to help align the connector.
You design a small bracket into the case that you can slide out. Into this bracket you put a piece of cardboard that is stamped out in the form of a micro SD. Onto it you print:
“This would have been a microSD if it weren’t for nonsense patents”
Hey, now … patents have their place. I’m totally unbiased.
Maybe I should do a TED-talk-style post...
Seriously, I should do a TED-talk-style post about government-granted monopolies. Actually, maybe I’d talk about lost arts, like Japanese sword making, then skip around a bit to tthe feudal guild system (quid-pro-quo), and then the quid-pro-quo of most patent systems. Nothing is perfect, and there are always edge-case examples … and it’s hard to look at things with a long-term outlook … but overall data shows patents both provide a positive economic force and encourage the sharing of knowledge that would otherwise be kept secret, which in the long run, increases our knowledge base.
For those in the USA, your patent system has its roots in a fundamental document: “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts” .
I have a suggestion, but no good idea how to go about doing it. In using my BP5 & BP6, I kept wishing the darn things were heavier so they didn’t slide around so easily. I’m sure there are various ways you could make heavier base, but then the units would be heavier or ship. I don’t know if that’s a problem individually, but if you’re ordering a couple thousand at once, that extra weight adds up.
I’m thinking, is there a way the case could be made to easily accommodate a weight of some sort if the user wanted, something she could modify with common items and a few minutes effort?
Here is a terrible example of how NOT to do this, just to get people thinking. Suppose the base had a hollowed out portion the exact size of the lid of a mini Altoids can. The user could melt some lead weights on the stove, pour them into the lid as a mold, and when cool, slide it into the hollow cavity. As I said, a terrible idea.
What about BBs? A hollow cavity you can pour BBs into to add weight. I haven’t been fishing in decades, but isn’t there a non-lead version of old lead sinkers? Not for melting, but if they were shaped suitably they could be poured / stuffed into the base for weights.
This reminds me of a client many years ago who sent us a prototype telephone of theirs which we needed to modify for the project. When we opened it up, there were a couple of pot metal slugs in the handset and base which seemed to serve no purpose. We asked the client why. He said, for quality! I’m not kidding, it wasn’t because they wanted the phones not to slide around the desk, but because they had done focus group studies of customers and learned that in the consumer mind, more weight was perceived as higher quality. Go figure.
Interesting thoughts, I experience some sliding too.
There’s a lot of clearance in the bottom, you could glue some kind of metal plate in there.
A simpler solution might be some kind of silicone feet, though they fall off if they don’t have proper 3M adhesives applied correctly to a surface cleaned with ketonatus alcohol or whatever.
There’s this stuff you’ll find all around here in SK, no doubt China too, that’s a kind of sticky sheet — imagine a mousepad. Comes in various sizes, can be easily trimmed, and is sold to keep things from sliding on your car dashboard. They come in different grades of “stickiness”, thought not quantified on the package. From almost like a closed cell neoprene (very firm and not too sticky) to stuff that’s just one drop of liquid away from snot. In fact I have a handful of extra sheets in my car, think I’ll give that a try.
Don’t forget 3M VHB ultra series of tape, like #4991 (Speaking of sticking to a surface). But that stuff is almost too strong, you’d need a crowbar to get it off your lab bench.
Maybe add small pockets into the case and add small magnets that fit into them to the accessories bag. When you want you can then easily attach the bp to a metal plate that is heavy enough to prevent any sliding.
The injection molding boss seems competent. It took some discussion and demos, but we managed to convince him we really wanted the colors to blend, instead of a light pipe effect. Evidently it’s an uncommon request among his customers.
We’ve seen material samples with additives specifically for diffusing LEDs. He said the LEDs give him a headache
There is some discussion of adding height to increase the LED diffusion, but I’d rather not do that. Any improvement in materials will be a big upgrade from V1.
Some how he plans to eliminate the insert nuts, but that might be a translation issue - waiting to see on that one.
Good initial discussion, and the boss is really into the project.
Good idea, I remember my calculator used to slide around too easily and I made a block of wood with a hollowed out space, put some felt in the cavity, and used it as a stand. Probably overkill for a BP, but I can definitely see printing a special purpose “heavy” BP5/6 stand or base.
I like this idea but just leave pockets for users to add their own magnets, small rare earth easy to come by either new or scavenged from gift cards, boxes.
the magnets must fit properly in the pockets. Otherwise they’d just slide out when pulling on the cables or similar. So you can’t just use any magnets.
So the pockets will have to be for one size of magnets with specific tolerances to give a proper friction fit. And I think instead of having to publish and support very specific magnet shopping instructions, it would be easier just to supply the right kind of magnets in the accessories bag with the bp.
Most logistics routes don’t allow magnets. I know it’s abused all the time, but we also have random packages with just bare PCBs sent back for magnet and battery bans.
