[Fwd: RE: Quote Request: Formica Robots]
Robert Spanton
I just got this quote from LEF. I think it includes all the assembly, including
prong, motors and batteries. If LEF were to actually do this, they said that
they'd need to see one of our prototypes first so that they could provide a more
accurate quote (I asked for a 'ballpark' figure from them).
£8.19 + VAT each. Not bad! (Don't forget to include components...)
R
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Quote Request: Formica Robots
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 12:20:51 +0100
From: Lef Circuits Ltd <sa...@lefcircuits.co.uk>
To: <rspa...@zepler.net>
Hi Rob,
Please find budget (firm price to be given after viewing gerber files &
parts list) quotation attached as requested.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to call.
Regards
John Bateson
Lef Circuits Ltd
Unit 61
Evelyn Drive
Leicester
England
LE3 2BU
Tel +44 (0)116 2891122
Fax +44 (0)116 2891111
Email: sa...@lefcircuits.co.uk
Website: www.lefcircuits.co.uk
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-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Spanton [mailto:rspa...@zepler.net]
Sent: 25 May 2008 01:58
To: sa...@lefcircuits.co.uk
Subject: Quote Request: Formica Robots
Hi,
I'm investigating how much it would cost to get one thousand small robots
assembled. These robots are probably quite different from most that you've
seen before. Their mechanical structure is incredibly simple, and their
chassis is a single PCB.
The PCB measures about 30x30 mm, and has 61 components (6 of which are
through-hole). There are no BGAs/QFNs.
We wouldn't need silkscreen, the boards are are through-plated and
double-sided.
They're compatible with the PCBtrain requirements, which I'm sure you're
familiar (0.2mm minimum spacing etc.).
There are 3 things that I am not sure that LEF is able to do. Please see
these pictures of our prototypes first, and then these will make sense:
http://flickr.com/photos/rspanton/2493680494/in/set-72157605071767184/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/warrantyvoid/2493198819/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/warrantyvoid/2494014990/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/warrantyvoid/2494011120/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/warrantyvoid/2494007526/
1) The robots have 2 small motors that are the same type as found in mobile
phones and pagers for vibrating. These motors have 2 springy metal legs
that are soldered directly to the PCB.
2) The battery. This is a lithium-ion battery and has 2 wires that connect
it to the PCB. It's stuck to the main circuit board with double-sided foam
tape.
3) The front legs and charging prongs. These are just copper wire that's
soldered onto the board -- they're both bent as you can see in the photos.
For future reference, these robots are called the "Formica Robots".
"Formica"
is latin for "ant".
Please can you provide me with a quote for this work?
My mobile number is 07986 650154.
Cheers,
Rob Spanton
Jeff Gough
be reduced. Eg. the through-hole photodiodes may cost, say, 5p less than
SM ones, but their manual assembly might be more than that. Same for the
switch.
In other thoughts- we could consider gyros/accelerometers for navigation
if optical mouse sensors are too expensive/fiddly. Eg. if you want to
drive straight, tweak your motor speeds until the gyro reads 0. A 1D
accelerometer and a 1D gyro could be enough to get some decent
navigation. Could possibly be combined with a checkerboard floor to
compensate for drift.
Stephen English
Steve
sun joanna
navigation,,,,the accuracy is not ideal.....
Jo
Alexis Johnson
Someones is talking from experience? :P
I will have to agree with Steve that putting more components isnt a nice
solution, but i think we can tweak the components we already have.
For example i was wondering if we could rotate the photodiodes so we have
two of them facing forwards and then use their output to get a better
resolution forwards? If we get the robots to pinpoint the light source to
some small angle then they can calibrate trying to go straight to it?
Another problem we are having is the sides of the arena, shiny metal and
they believe its the sun, dark and they believe its the oposite end of the
arena.. One thing i should have done was to darken the battery charging
rig (which is crap atm) who knows how much reflection they where getting,
maybe more than the side of the arena...
One option would be a black / white grating ? We could even have it
adjustable so we change the ratio black/white until its lighter than the
charging area but darker than the sun?
Alexis Johnson
It would be great to get feedback from them about construction but im not
sure if they would be willing, probably if we paid them? Apart from the
trough hole question i would be curious what they think of the motor
assembly and prongs, since that a bit on the boundary of "standard
manufacturing". I seem to remember jeff saying the motors usually slide
into some kind of receptacle? Would it not work for us?
On Fri, 30 May 2008 13:16:00 +0100, Robert Spanton <rspa...@zepler.net>
Robert Spanton
> They mention programming, are they talking about programming the robots?
They're talking about programming their machines.
> It would be great to get feedback from them about construction but im
> not sure if they would be willing, probably if we paid them? Apart from
> the trough hole question i would be curious what they think of the motor
> assembly and prongs, since that a bit on the boundary of "standard
> manufacturing". I seem to remember jeff saying the motors usually slide
> into some kind of receptacle? Would it not work for us?
As far as I know, this quote includes the fitting of motors, prongs etc. I
spoke to them on the phone about this on Wednesday, and they said that they were
OK to do it, it just costs a lot because fitting them is a manual process (as
are all of their through-hole things).
R
Jeffrey Gough
rubber boot. The motor/boot assembly is held in a moulded recess in the
casing, and the spring contacts are pushed onto the PCB when the casing
is screwed shut. Implementing such a scheme on the robots would make
matters much more complex than a simple soldering job.
Alexis Johnson wrote:
>
> They mention programming, are they talking about programming the robots?
>
> It would be great to get feedback from them about construction but im
> not sure if they would be willing, probably if we paid them? Apart
> from the trough hole question i would be curious what they think of
> the motor assembly and prongs, since that a bit on the boundary of
> "standard manufacturing". I seem to remember jeff saying the motors
> usually slide into some kind of receptacle? Would it not work for us?
>