Working on the new eParrot 2018

[ketel3]

Great work again,question the holes into the buttons pad  that are needed to fit the buttonspad onto the buttons of the  rgb dispay how do you plan to make them ? as they are importand for a good fit.
Further I'am impressed by the first attemp.
I think this is a huge improvement for the buttons.

[ketel3]

No thank you, I do not need another Apple smart phone.

Mine is a few years old and still works perfectly, even after the Apple updates. It already does so much more than I need it to do.
My phone sends and receives phone calls, which is 99.99+% of what I need my phone to do. It is never used for much more than that, thank you very much.
Yes, I know it can also be my "24 hour personal assistant", GPS navigator, money collector/bill payer, artificial intelligence know every damned thing...

And yes I know my phone is a few years old. And you want me to upgrade. And you will keep calling me at all hours day and night. And nothing I can say will keep you from trying to upgrade me to a phone that I do not want or need. And you will keep calling even when I'm rude.

The following is from your customers that want a new phone. Contact them instead of me. They seem to be informed consumers and are ready to deal... and also seem to be negotiable on price and terms.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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Working on the new eParrot 2018
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You know what I do not own a smart phone only a very old Nokia cell phone and even more simple I do not have a montly contract no sir it is a pre paid one.

Further I have to say this is a very very very bad thing smart phones  , if you walk on the street and see zombie people,the only thing they can do is look at their phone ,see people in a restaurant and they are buzy with their phone ,see young people sitting in the city to each other what do they do smart  phoning ,even terible accidents happen like a bus driver looking at his phone and crashing.
Truck drivers on the highway with only attention to their phone crashing into
waiting cars , for the traffic light they do not see that they have to drive as the light is green,and the most sad thing a father lately pushed his baby on wheels under a city traffic train and the baby got killed reason the father was busy with his damn phone.
Than I almost forgot to mention on the beach the father and mother lost their kids out of site due the smartphone and several kids died this summer for that reason ,thanks sir NO SMARTY FOR ME, and you know what I think , I'AM SMARTER than all those smart phones together.

spread the word.

[ShiFu]

Great work again,question the holes into the buttons pad  that are needed to fit the buttonspad onto the buttons of the  rgb dispay how do you plan to make them ? as they are importand for a good fit.
Further I'am impressed by the first attemp.
I think this is a huge improvement for the buttons.

That is what the "hole pattern" is for.
Fill the button cavity with silicone and then use the hole pattern.
You use the cup and button pattern only once, then use the hole pattern for every copy that you want to make.

After only 12 hours, I checked the pure silicone mold. It was still semi-solid so I ruined that attempt.
Should just let it sit a few days.

Only the very young or very old seem to be immune to the hypnotic effects of a smart phone.
Folks drive while texting, play games while walking, and for some reason just one smart phone is not enough for some people.
I mean Damn! Folks here are terrible drivers anyway. They should not be looking at a phone while driving.

[ketel3]

Well I presume the strach has a function 
So why leave it out 
Ok clear on the hole patern.
You know you can add color if you want so.
The buttons will better , smoother to handle for sure.

The finest is .... with the new front plate and these buttons the enclosure choise is easy and  the avation connectors are easy to fit now ,my connectors are fine but I realy realy wanted the aviation ones.   

[ShiFu]

I also like the aviation connectors.

I'm still experimenting with the silicone mold making. Its more difficult here because it is so hard for me to get access to the good chemicals like Oomoo.
But I am making some progress with the help of YouTube videos.

The best success so far has been by not using the corn starch.
Instead, mix together liquid dish soap and cool water and squeeze in some clear silicone. Mix that blob together and use it to make the mold.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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Notice that the saw blades arrived and was quickly tested. Works very well for a fine cut.

The mold actually came out almost good. My first success after many attempts.
So I printed the mold again and this time with vent holes. That should allow the silicone to harden much faster and hopefully release more cleanly.
(I has a little extra so used it to see the hole pattern.)

Working on the new eParrot 2018
moldWvents3.png (150.2 kB. 350x176 - viewed 863 times.)

I'm testing the one in my hand with pure silicone. I'll let it cure in the mold for at least 2 days before trying to separate the mold.

And just printed another one with holes to see if the silicone/water/soap will be even better with the vent holes.

Progress is slow but steady.
After a day or two for the mold to cure and harden, I'll attempt to use the molds to make the silicone buttons.

[ketel3]

Aha the saw blades arrived,if you ever break a key in a lock you can use these blades to get the broken piece out of the lock  and old trick.

So without the starch is better,I remember a movie with the blob so there are more ways.
Yep the airholes wil speed up the proces,I made in the past a antenna with pvc pipe and glued in parts with silicone after a few weeks I wanted to change something and only the outside was hardened inside the pipe it was still soft.
Maybe in the middle of the buttons it stays soft for several days.

I like the experiments.

[ShiFu]

I am not having much luck with this DIY mold making.
But we are forced to stay inside for the next few days while the super typhoon (one of the biggest ever) comes close to us.
So thoughts now are about improving the 3D printed buttons.

Starting completely over, again, I designed the buttons to be a little better.
The bottom "membrane" is now a little thicker, the buttons a little taller, the holes for the push button rods are now a tiny bit larger, and I've said HI to everyone
Below is a picture with and without the HI cut into the model.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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The internal HI cuts allow the membrane to flex a bit easier and reduces drag on the neighboring button.
I printed the first few layers in black and then changed the filament to silver/grey and then finished the print.
Its a time consuming extra step but I really like how the buttons appear to pop out.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
HI 1.png (93.23 kB. 350x262 - viewed 752 times.)

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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[ketel3]

HELLO GENIUS 
Yes this sounds as THE solution now the stress factor is taken away,and the buttons can move freely,yes the holes were a bit small.
A great idea.
Is there no need to make a incision ad the ends of the arrows ? and set button ?
How do I get one 

@ the other hand I would have liked the soft buttons.

And hope notting happens due the super typhoon.

[ShiFu]

I'm not sure if more cuts are needed or not. They seem to work OK.
The question I don't know the answer to is how many times can the plastic flex before it cracks and breaks.
Are you suggesting a more aggressive HI pattern?

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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Working on the new eParrot 2018
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My TV remote control is very cheaply made (it cost only a dollar or two) but the buttons have the great feel.
That's the case when you can spend $1,000 for a custom, professional mold and have thousands of copies made for just a few pennies each.
In high grade, custom color silicone and with silk screen printing.
Unfortunately, that kind of production is far beyond our needs - we only want 1 or 2 pieces.

We seem to have survived the super typhoon. We had some minor flooding (and we live on the 10th floor!).
The rain was so hard and strong the floor drains on the balcony couldn't keep up and we had to mop up a few gallons of water that entered our home.

[ketel3]

If it is more agressive I doint know but a small cut at all arrow ends  and @ the right side of the set button,well maybe more easy if I show it so see the paint reworked buttonpad below.

But if its works ,  it works,how long it last , years and years I think,and you redesigned the bottom layer into a bit thicker one ,as mine is thin as paper ,further due the tin bottom some buttons broke out,I was lucky as the Belgium guy that printed mine added from each color a few extra buttons

Glad you  are safe ,for me as a weather fanatic interresting weather ,but no people should be in danger or killed,those powers are huge,I have seen movie's from Hong kong were big buildings were sweeping and moving around.
A little water to clean is not extreme,see it as spring clean up

[ShiFu]

Working on the new eParrot 2018
pcb eParrot1.JPG (84.75 kB. 350x262 - viewed 713 times.)

Some progress lately.

The PCB is easy to assemble, does take a bit of time to solder the bits together.
The box took a fair bit of effort to cut out. I definitely need a friend that can cut them with CNC.

As you can see, the sensors are not attached yet so I'm getting the warning back-light on the display.
Maybe able to spend the time to complete this today. Took tons of pictures to help write the revised build manual.

After building this one I can see at least twenty ways to improve the build. So I'll be making a lot of small changes to the 3D print design.

Here is a picture of the SD card holder.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
pcb eParrot sdHolder.JPG (108.08 kB. 350x262 - viewed 770 times.)

[ketel3]

I realy love it,and fine to have more space in the enclosure.
Smooth working buttons what does one wants more 

May I ask you to carry out a little test ?

As I wrote before there is a little bug on the eparrot.
As you power it by usb all is working fine,if you power up with a seperate power supply true the power plug on the pcb you will be faced or not with a eparrot that will not start up,only after you press the reset button on the rgb display left on top the eparrot will start,I found this problem quit some time ago but was thinking it was due my earlyer problem as I blew up my first eparrot due the wrong connectors.

Edwin now was faced with the same problem,as he switched to a adapter to power the eparrot.
Edwin found a solution for this bug as he was not able to solve it in the software he found a great hardware solution,add a capacitor from rst to ground , value 100 NF in this way it pulls to ground for a short moment as you power up by a adapter, and it is like a auto reset what has been created.

Now why does this not happen with usb power , well Edwin told me there are several reset moments
if the eparrot is powered up by usb power.

Would be nice to see the enclosure with the aviation connectors.

Next year I will have plenty of time to work on a new elec box as it would be nice to have all in one box.

[ShiFu]

I have not had the startup problem that you and Edwin describe. But adding a small capacitor is easy to do so I'll add it.

To get a great cabling build you'll need a few inexpensive tools. The 3 pin dupont connectors, crimping tool (or you can carefully use small pliers), and heat shrink tubing is really nice to have.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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In the picture above you'll see all the parts to build out one complete DS18B20 sensor cable and also a completed unit.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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I added a 4K7 (4700 Ohm 1/4 Watt) to each cable and located those resistors inside the box.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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Connect the PCB shield to the data shield and connect the SD extension, power and all the sensors.
The LCD shield is assembled into the lid and then connected to the data shield (inside the box) after all the sensors are plugged in.
That's the easy way.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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And like I mentioned earlier, after building this one out completely it is easy to see all of the ways to improve it.
Number One: This is the smallest box that can house all of this. There is almost no extra room. You must plan carefully before cutting into the box.

[ShiFu]

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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This is the wiring scheme that I chose.
Feel free to concoct your own, but be aware that the PCB right-angle male sensor input pins have the pattern 5V Signal Ground
so the Dupont connector needs to be arranged that way.

[ShiFu]

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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The easiest way for me to add the 100 nF capacitor was to the data shield.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
attaching lid to box.png (199.1 kB. 350x262 - viewed 688 times.)

And the easiest way to attach all of the sensors was to the PCB and data shields, then connect those shields to the RGB LCD shield.

[ketel3]

BANGGGGGG  thats how I like it,especialy the picture were the box is asembled and open like a book it looks soooo smooth,almost as it belongs that way from the beginning.

Yep de capacitor is easy to fit,strange that you were not faced with this little problem,but for me it is also not always sometimes it starts up right after the power is on.

Till now I have not the download feature and it is fine to bring the pocket out that way ,the raw data is not great to look at but there must be a way to implement it into a nice looking screen,with all sensor names and so on,and than you look at someting complete different 
It is incredible what Edwin all implemented into the eparrot.

[Edwin Croissant]

The capacitor works ok, but needs to be disconnected to upload a sketch. By the way, that’s a fine looking enclosure

[ketel3]

Well you upload the sketch ones.

At the other hand a little button press is not a big deal,I glued a extension piece for easy operation.
Thanks for clarifying Edwin.

[ShiFu]

The capacitor works ok, but needs to be disconnected to upload a sketch. By the way, that’s a fine looking enclosure

Thanks for the alert about needing to remove the capacitor before loading a new sketch.
That could have been a nightmare to figure out later.

The modified HI pattern on the buttons works great. Best yet!
The bezel got some work yesterday, also. It fits a little tighter now.

Working on the new eParrot 2018
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Working on the new eParrot 2018
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The fine threads or hairs (in 3D printspeak they are called strings) are a bother, but can usually be brushed away with an old toothbrush.
The ghost pattern under the display is probably an indication to clean the printer's build plate.
Hairspray is my favorite way to get the plastic to stick to the plate, but the plate needs to be thoroughly cleaned occasionally.

[ketel3]

I like the yellow one even more