By Mallika Rao & Josh Kotel
For our final design, we were between several ideas. Our pomodoro timer was the frontrunner but we became apprehensive about the lack of time and level of design we wanted to achieve.
We also strongly felt we wanted to design devices that worked as a set–either for communication or otherwise–but offered a shared experience.
Continue reading “Limelight: DIY Lime-Shaped Presentation Timer With LED Segments”
Story
I had an 11th hour change of heart, and felt inspired to make something more challenging than my previous idea. I originally thought of making myself into a giant walking camera–the housing would be around my waist and I pictured a neopixel ring for the perimeter of the lens, with a few white LEDs acting as the flash to go off at timed intervals.
But then I had the idea to make a Visual Rain Stick. My thought is to have the LEDs travel down inside a hollowed out wood tube with chamfered edges, sparkling as they go, through sporadically placed drilled out holes. My goal is to create a visual embodiment of an audial product. I’m opting for warm white lights to compliment the wood (which I plan to finish in a rich, potentially darker tone), and to give it a more natural feel. For the light sequencing I’ll be utilizing the falling, wipe and twinkle animations in my Arduino code.
Parts List
Adafruit Mini Skinny NeoPixel LED Strip – Warm White 3000K – 60 LEDs/m – 1m long, Anker PowerCore 5,000mAh Portable Charger, 470Ω resistor, 1000µF capacitor, ~2″ x 36″ pinewood strip, Poly or paint to finish the wood.
Build Plan
Cut (2) 1″ x 40″ wood panels
Dado cut a 1/2″ channel in each
4″ dado cut at one end of each to accommodate the power bank (+ 4mm)
Drill holes along panels
Build circuit
Hot glue LED strip along dado
Glue wood halves together
Poly or paint to finish
Circuit
(Still in progress!)
Dont Push My Button / Not The Red Button
In thinking on something that would promote interactivity with other people at the parade, the first thing I thought of was this play-on-words. Making it literal, the idea is pretty straightforward. They press the buttons (or button on my shirt and it lights up a collar or something similar — maybe it can look like devil horns…not super sure where would make the most sense to dd the neopixel cable (maybe sewn in a column down the shirt). The button would have to be a little larger than the ones in our toolkit…
I’ll need: Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip – 60 LED 1m, Large LED Button, Arduino Uno, USB power bank, White/Black Shirt.
Uncognito
My favorite halloween costume was some silly glasses with a mustache. I love the idea that this combines lighthearted goof with futuristic LEDs around the rims, and the connecting hardware affixed the the arms of the glasses.
I’ll need: Silly disguise glasses, (2) 2×16 Neopixel Rings, Lipo Backpack, ItsyBitsy M4.
Bloodcomb Jellyfish Umbrella
One of the world’s most incredible creatures, the blood comb jellyfish, lights up in an otherworldly way. This would pay homage to this insanely alien-like wonder, and would be fun and do-able. (Also, above-crowd visibility.) The idea would be to make the lights “run” down the umbrella, mimmicing the shimmer effect of the blood jelly.
I’ll need: Clear PVC umbrella, portable USB power bank, cable ties, FLORA or Circuit Playground Express, LiPoly rechargeable battery (3.75V 2500mAh), micro Lipo battery charger, button, NeoPixel digital RGB LED strip 30 LED (3-6 meters)
The Concept
The idea for Goodnight Balloon plush nightlight came from my son’s love of balloons. I’d originally imagined it as a handful of balloons.
Continue reading “Josh’s “Goodnight Balloon” Nightlight”Moomin Prototype
One of my sisters moved to Finland when I was young, and introduced me to Moomin. He still retains a magical quality and has already got an inviting plush figure. My son’s Moomin plush quickly became one of the few bedtime indispensables–so potentially even more magic than I was aware of.
After a few days, I came up with ideas that didn’t involve a beloved children’s character protected by Finnish copyright law.
Bedtime Balloons
Story and target users: My son love balloons. I thought this would be a fun way to let him be able to sleep with balloons, when the real ones have to sleep on the couch. He’s also getting closer to potentially wanting a nightlight, so, safety permitting, this might be a fun way to do that 🙂 I see this being a cute idea for helping bedtime be a little more fun.
Materials: Battery pack, LEDs (red, yellow, blue), Thin Felt (red, yellow, blue, white), polyfill, Buttons, or iron-on embroidered eyes.
Pilea Plush
Story and target users: I love plants–especially ones that trail. But some rooms just don’t get enough sunlight. Pilea Plush could be a charming way to incorporate a bit of flora into your child’s room (and mayyyybe the bathroom). Depending on execution, it could potentially work for adults as well. I’d need: A battery pack, LEDs (white), Felt (green, brown, tan), polyfill.
Pomodoro Pillow
Story and target users: Since we’re shopping for one now, I started with the idea of an ‘OK to Wake’ Clock for toddlers. I got the idea for a plush stoplight version, but then I saw that there is already an Elmo Stoplight OK to Wake Clock–so it looks like Elmo bested me again. So I thought about other use cases for a stoplight style plush, and thought about socks on doors that signal–among other things–”don’t come in.” But the product here doesn’t fit the target audience.
Then I remembered that for another class I’ve been working on a design to tackle task management for people with ADHD or who face challenges with their executive functions. So, slightly returning to the clock idea, I thought about the pomodoro method, of having a visual countdown. Personally, and having ADHD, I find a countdown to be a distraction from my intended task. But what if, instead of a clock, it was something more interactive? What if my pomodoro were a small pillow on which I would rest what distracts me most, until it’s light shut off to signifying I could pick it up again? I’m too invested now–I’m going to have to see if this works. I’ll need: A battery pack, LEDs (white), a timer module, plush fabric, polyfill.
by Josh Kotel
Overview
To kick off my teardown of the A1673, I needed to remove the screen. I used a heat gun to loosen the glue, while gradually prying off the LCD Assembly using a palette knife. Removing the thin aluminum shield in the top left allows access to four very tiny screws. Once unscrewed, the screen can be detached and set aside. Diving deeper involves more tiny screws, flex cables (careful, they’re paper thin!) and adhesive-backed static dissipative foam.
Every iPad is made by Foxcomm, by both factory workers and machines. The plastic housings are made through precision injection molding.
Tools Needed
Heat gun
Pry tool
Small phillips screwdriver
Components
The iPad Pro’s screen assembly is comprised of the front panel/glass, touch screen digitizer, and LCD display. The glass–believed to be aluminosilicate–is polished with cerium oxide and glued to a plastic frame. The LCD is made from liquid crystals, and is housed between two polarizers.
The back case is CNC milled from a solid block of aluminum. In order to achieve its matte, scratch-resistant finish, the piece is anodized and sandblasted.
Note: Although highly recyclable (and Apple reuses aluminum from disused products when creating new housings) the difficulty in extracting aluminum from the earth means that it uses a large amount of fossil fuel.
The lithium-ion polymer battery takes up more space than any other component, and is pressed into the housing of the iPad by machine. The process of creating these batteries involves combining lithium with a metallic oxide catalyst, a dry solid polymer electrolyte and a metallic current collector. First, a lithium ingot is pressed and laminated until it is formed into a length of thin metallic sheet. The sheet is then spool-wound and baked in a vacuum oven to self adhere. Finally, the battery is sent off to a fabricator to be electrolyzed.
Apple’s A9X Chips, manufactured exclusively by Taiwan Semiconductors, used a 16nm FinFET lithography process.
Full disclosure–the flex cables broke and when removing the power button assembly, and is only partly pictured here. It shares a flex cable with the microphone, power button switch, flash, and ambient light sensor. The home button features a touch-sensor and is sealed with a soft rubber gasket.
Both rear (top) and front (bottom)-facing and cameras use scratch-resistant glass, and are sealed to the frame with either rubber and foam gaskets.
The A1673 features 4 speakers–two are located in either side of a long plastic bar housed below the top frame. All four speakers are housed in plastic, and sit below the same ESD foam-covered aluminum plating used to protect other components.
Apple is notoriously secretive about their manufacturing process, and so it was hard to understand as much as I would have liked about some of the components. I’ve worked on some of the earlier gen iPhones, so had a fair idea that I’d run into plenty of flex cables and lots of glue.
Notable Design Elements
Thanks for reading! Feel free to watch the teardown below 🙂
Hi, I’m Josh. I am from New York City, and currently live in Brooklyn with my wife, son, cats, and dog. I love visual design, and enjoy working with my hands. For my BA, I minored in psychology–I have always been fascinated with how we relate to each other, to our products, and to the technology around us.
In 2018 I began unikkatt, a pet product brand inspired by Nordic simplicity, which I recently reopened with the goal of incorporating new designs and ideas from my time at PoD.
I love taking apart products to see what makes them tick–I used to take my iPhones apart to replace cracked screens. I’m quite excited to get into Arduino and feel like this class feeds into several of my passions.
