5 ms·

The board looks a little fragile. A tool like this (which is going to be used on the road) needs to be as solid as possible. For $10/unit it seems like they cou

by flavor8 12y ago

The board looks a little fragile. A tool like this (which is going to be used on the road) needs to be as solid as possible. For $10/unit it seems like they could afford to at least give it an epoxy surround.

skrebbel 12y ago
I think it's on purpose. Looks cooler, gets attention of your fellow coffeeshop nerds.
- serf 12y ago
  yeah, but it's also suspicious looking to a laymen at an airport whose inspecting your luggage. i've been hassled for a cubieboard. (a single board ARM computer). They seem to hate exposed PCBs. You'd think they would have seen quite a few...
- IshKebab 12y ago
  I doubt it - it's because it's pretty trivial to make a PCB like that with components - one could design the PCB in maybe an hour and then manufacture is really easy and cheap - probably about $1 each for those boards even in low numbers (check OSHPark.com). In contrast, making a case is much much harder. There really aren't any good low-volume case making methods. Injection moulding is out. Machining from aluminium is an option here, but it's very expensive. There's resin casting, but that's difficult and I don't know if it's really suited to manufacture. Honestly, making the case is 10-100 times harder than the PCB (for such a simple one like this anyway).
  - serf 12y ago
    3d printing is an OK solution to low-volume cases. tinkercad.com to create an stl file, and shapeways.com to print it out. (simple) PCB design and production is super quick and easy though, you're absolutely right.
    - IshKebab 12y ago
      3D printing is still far too expensive for thing like this unfortunately.
  - skrebbel 12y ago
    I say "looks cooler" and you respond by saying that it's easier to make. Since when does "cool" equal "difficult to produce"? And why didn't anyone tell me about that rule in high school?
    - IshKebab 12y ago
      Err... yeah, you said they didn't do a case because it looks cooler without one. I said no, they didn't do a case because it is too hard.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago
      He's saying that they didn't do it because it's cool, they did it because it's harder to make a case than a PCB. And I agree. It's insane how many "I made this board, how do I get a case for it?" posts I see online from n00b hardware hackers. An engineer with experience will consider packaging from the outset. Thinking about it after the fact can make the manufacture much more difficult and expensive. That said, I think $10 is a good price for something like this. I, personally, would look for a corporate/industrial application that would justify a price 10x that.
IshKebab 12y ago
They're using PCBs from oshpark.com which are quite thick (1.6 mm). I've made a USB dongle using their PCBs and it's actually fine. The connectors have sturdy tabs on the sides that go through the board.
djhworld 12y ago
This was my first thought too, I'd bet £5 that the port on that thing will snap off within a week in my bag
bvttf 12y ago
I bought a few, the ones I got had a thick clear plastic wrapper that's not in the pictures.

by flavor8 12y ago

skrebbel 12y ago

I think it's on purpose. Looks cooler, gets attention of your fellow coffeeshop nerds.

serf 12y ago
yeah, but it's also suspicious looking to a laymen at an airport whose inspecting your luggage. i've been hassled for a cubieboard. (a single board ARM computer). They seem to hate exposed PCBs. You'd think they would have seen quite a few...
IshKebab 12y ago
I doubt it - it's because it's pretty trivial to make a PCB like that with components - one could design the PCB in maybe an hour and then manufacture is really easy and cheap - probably about $1 each for those boards even in low numbers (check OSHPark.com). In contrast, making a case is much much harder. There really aren't any good low-volume case making methods. Injection moulding is out. Machining from aluminium is an option here, but it's very expensive. There's resin casting, but that's difficult and I don't know if it's really suited to manufacture. Honestly, making the case is 10-100 times harder than the PCB (for such a simple one like this anyway).
- serf 12y ago
  3d printing is an OK solution to low-volume cases. tinkercad.com to create an stl file, and shapeways.com to print it out. (simple) PCB design and production is super quick and easy though, you're absolutely right.
  - IshKebab 12y ago
    3D printing is still far too expensive for thing like this unfortunately.
- skrebbel 12y ago
  I say "looks cooler" and you respond by saying that it's easier to make. Since when does "cool" equal "difficult to produce"? And why didn't anyone tell me about that rule in high school?
  - IshKebab 12y ago
    Err... yeah, you said they didn't do a case because it looks cooler without one. I said no, they didn't do a case because it is too hard.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 12y ago
    He's saying that they didn't do it because it's cool, they did it because it's harder to make a case than a PCB. And I agree. It's insane how many "I made this board, how do I get a case for it?" posts I see online from n00b hardware hackers. An engineer with experience will consider packaging from the outset. Thinking about it after the fact can make the manufacture much more difficult and expensive. That said, I think $10 is a good price for something like this. I, personally, would look for a corporate/industrial application that would justify a price 10x that.

IshKebab 12y ago

They're using PCBs from oshpark.com which are quite thick (1.6 mm). I've made a USB dongle using their PCBs and it's actually fine. The connectors have sturdy tabs on the sides that go through the board.

djhworld 12y ago

This was my first thought too, I'd bet £5 that the port on that thing will snap off within a week in my bag

bvttf 12y ago

I bought a few, the ones I got had a thick clear plastic wrapper that's not in the pictures.