Paid Project

[ChaosConsumesMe]

Hello,


This is an offer for a paid commission. I am seeking someone who can assist me with making three custom bracelets.


The project is as follows (top to bottom):
1) Plastic semi-transparent dome (1.5" - 2" diameter)
2) LED panel board (full color spectrum)
3) Speaker
4) Micro-controller
5) USB connection rechargeable Li-Ion battery

All contained within a 3D printed cylindrical plastic housing, approximately 1.5" - 2" in diameter and no more than 1.5" thick, with a protruding on/off switch, opening for USB connection, and opening at the base to run a slip-through watch strap. The micro controller needs to run a program that plays a preloaded sound every hour and turns on a random LED light for 10 seconds. It should have an internal running clock that will fetch the time whenever it is plugged into a computer.

Please PM me or reply if interested and included estimated cost for labor. I will pay for all materials and shipping of course.

[zwieblum]

What's the budget and what do you use the USB connector for?

[wvmarle]

The project is as follows (top to bottom):
1) Plastic semi-transparent dome (1.5" - 2" diameter)

Do you have this already or do you want this to be part of the offer?

2) LED panel board (full color spectrum)

What resolution do you expect for this? RGB good enough or do you need RGBW LEDs? What more if anything does this have to do beyond switching on a random LED at the hour?

3) Speaker

Do you have one already?
If not: what are the requirements beyond fitting in the enclosure (such as volume)?

4) Micro-controller

Obviously.

5) USB connection rechargeable Li-Ion battery

Do you have one already?
If not: what are the requirements beyond fitting in the enclosure (such as capacity)?

It should have an internal running clock that will fetch the time whenever it is plugged into a computer.

What is the required accuracy of this clock?

How is the computer going to send the time to the device? Do you have the software for this already or should that also be part of the project?

If everything has to be made from scratch you're looking at a 4, maybe 5 digit number in USD. The product may be small, but the amount of design and engineering that goes in it is big. Does that fit your expected budget?

[cedarlakeinstruments]

Can you post a sketch of the enclosure/dome. I'm visualizing multiple things based on your description with no way to know which one you mean.

[ChaosConsumesMe]

I drew up a diagram of what I am envisioning it to look like;

Reference the budget; based on review of the parts I expect the actual hardware to cost around $100-$150 per device (unless there are components I have overlooked) give or take; not including the cost of 3D printing the enclosure; If anyone is interested, please post a bid for their labor costs to assemble the device and write the code necessary for it to function.

[wvmarle]

So your LED panel is a Neopixel ring.What more if anything does this have to do beyond switching on a random LED at the hour?

As you have a total cost estimate for the device you obviously did your research on parts: can you please post a list of the exact parts you have in mind of this?

How many units do you want? A custom PCB will make this a LOT flatter. Probably even easier to assemble as it's going to be hard to wire up such a device properly.

What is the required accuracy of this clock?

How is the computer going to send the time to the device? Do you have the software for this already or should that also be part of the project?

[ChaosConsumesMe]

The LED panel is only to light up for 10 seconds on the hour; no other purpose. I selected it because it seemed like it had a good range of colors and was fairly bright. Additionally due to the shape I figured a circular speaker could fit nicely inside of the ring to help keep the device flatter.

The parts list I believe the device will need:
Lithium Ion Polymer Battery - 3.7v 150mAh
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1317

Adafruit LiIon/LiPoly Backpack Add-On (OR SIMILAR)
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2124

NeoPixel Ring - 12 x 5050 RGB LED
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1643

Speaker - 40mm Diameter
https://www.adafruit.com/product/3968

Arduino Pro Mini 328 - 3.3V/8 MHz
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2377

Breadboard-friendly SPDT Slide Switch
https://www.adafruit.com/product/805


I only need three of these devices; and I'm unsure of the cost to get a custom PCB for such low volume.

The accuracy of the clock only needs to be (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)

The software is part of the project; I previously wrote code for an Arduino board that, when plugged into a computer via USB, would open notepad and write a message; going off of that premise I would like the device to recognize when it is plugged into a computer (Windows OS) and fetch the time.

The device will then use the LiIon battery to passively run a clock (no display necessary) and play a sound/light up the LED on the hour. The device should be able to last at least 10-12 hours before requiring a recharge. The on/off switch is to toggle whether the device plays the sound/lights up or not; not to shut off the running clock.

[zwieblum]

Again, what's the budget?

[cedarlakeinstruments]

The biggest concerns with your project are the enclosure and the USB port/time setting. The enclosure, especially, will drive the bulk of the development cost.

I assume that you're not somehow wedded to 3D printing and you're suggesting that as a potential way to  make the enclosure, correct? There are many ways to skin a cat and there are hundreds of electronics enclosure manufacturers making thousands of enclosure types and this is not something I would 3D print. For example, what if we could make everything fit into this?. Would you be happy with that?

Now, on connecting to a PC and setting the time. It's one thing to build a device that acts as an HID keyboard and sends a command to start up Notepad. It's  another to build one that works the same way to set the time and off the top of my head I don't see a way to do this without software that has to be installed on the PC.

Potential alternatives, especially if you will only ever build three devices, are an onboard real time clock that is preset to the current time, so it should be reasonably accurate for about a year or two, or an alternative method of getting the time such as a WiFi interface. But that's harder. Or as I mentioned before, loading an application on the PC that this device connects to and automatically sets the time when it's plugged in.

Feedback on my suggested changes?

[wvmarle]

For example, what if we could make everything fit into this?.

Easy fit.
The whole thing fits comfortably within the footprint of that neopixel ring, and this enclosure is bigger.

[ChaosConsumesMe]

Reference the budget; I expect the devices to cost between $100-$150 in components (per device, not including enclosure) and I am accepting bids on labor for the assembly/software.

If you want to submit a bid just send me an itemized list of the components you would like to use to make this device and an estimation of your labor costs. Please also include an estimation for the cost of the enclosure if you plan to 3D print it, or if you want to use a prefabricated enclosure just include that in the item list.

If someone sends me a quote I agree with we'll make a deal and start working.


@cedarlakeinstruments
 No, it doesn't have to be 3D printed; I looked at the enclosure you linked to and it looks great! It would be perfect for this project. I tried to call one of their distributors to get a price quote per unit but I am waiting to hear back from them.

Reference the software I hoped it wouldn't be so difficult... as an alternative maybe it would be easier to use the onboard real-time clock you suggested; the on/off switch could turn the unit off completely and when turned on the timer restarts at 0 hours 59 min 55 seconds; so you could effectively sync the watches by turning them on at the same time?

[cedarlakeinstruments]

The enclosures are around $20 @ qty 1. You can buy them at SerpacOnline.com: https://www.serpaconline.com/product/bw-wrist-enclosures/

[wvmarle]

Sounds pretty reasonable to me. No way you're going to 3D print anything nearly that good looking, or sturdy.

Just wondering about that top - is it even transparent? It's really black, I don't see any images with stuff shining through on that site, while I would expect it to.

[cedarlakeinstruments]

It's hard to tell, but I think it's black translucent, so you should be able to see LEDs or an OLED screen through it.