Who haven’t play with one? A walkie talkie is probably one of the objects that reminds most my childhood. I used to play with it as much as I can, but I have never disassembly it until now.
Using just a screwdriver you can dissemble the entire device and here is how it looks like:
List of components and materials
- Case: Plastic
- Battery : Aluminum, copper and plastic
- Antenna : Copper
- Speaker : Aluminum
- Keypad : Silicon rubber
- Circuit: Copper
- Talking button : Rubber and plastic
So, how all these parts work together? Walkie-talkies are small radios that can transmit and receive signals. As soon as you press the talking button and speak into a walkie-talkie, your voice is picked up by a microphone, encoded onto a radio frequency and transmitted with the antenna. Another radio receive the transmission with its antenna, decode your voice from the walkie-talkie signal and drive a speaker. (How Stuff Works, 2004)
Manufacturing techniques
- Battery : electrode manufacturing, cell assembly, and cell finishing
- Antenna : etching process / printmaking
- Speaker : Assembling process
- Keypad : Molding cycle
- Circuit board: PCB process
- Talking button : Molding cycle
One interesting thing I noticed was the datasheet. On the back of the circuit board, there was this number AN29160AA, which indicates that is a IC (Integrated Circuit) for Transceiver (transmitter/receiver in one single package) with specific features.
Finally, if I need to pick 2 designs, I would choose the keypad as the design that I like most and the case as the one that it’s not appealing for me but I’m curious why the designer used that form.
Considering that this product was most used by children, the person who designs the keypad might created circular buttons since they are easy to press and might used rubber to manufacture it and make the buttons soft.
On the other hand, the case fits in a hand of a child so It might be the main reason to consider that width. Also, a curve case for the antenna and the base seem as a protection for children. However, it looks a simple design for me but I might be biased by how much technology has advanced and everything looks appealing now.