18. Project development¶

I decided around June that I want to try commercialise my Final Project idea as a Hardware Product, and for a while I was unsure how to ensure my product’s commercial success while also fulfilling the FabAcademy graduation requirement of making all design files fully public.

As I explain in next week’s IP and Income section, once you publically disclose your idea, even on the web, it is no longer patentable by Japanese law (although there are exemptions you can file). On the other hand, there are strategic benefits to open-sourcing your product, especially if you want to quickly build an Ecosystem. An ideal case might have been a “patent and then disclose” route, but unfortunately there was just not enough time to finish all that before the deadline.

Since I still wanted to keep the option of protecting my confidentiality and potentially patenting down the line, I decided to come up with an alternative Final Project.

The Concept¶

After brainstorming something that won’t take too much time away from working on my original idea, but still useful, I came up with an idea to build a simple Test Equipment on which various socket/connector designs can be tested.

A critical issue in my original Final Project was the question of how to attach my object onto the board, with ease as well as with consistently secure connection. While I had many ideas for potential approaches, none of the parts available in the market seemed like a good fit, and there was always the concern with insecure connection. So I decided to build a test-device that would help me design and test the appropriate connector with a good balance of below 3 metrics;
1. How smooth (and even enjoyable) it is to attach and detach
2. Consistency of connection
3. Inexpensive

Who’s done what beforehand?¶

To my understanding, there are no FabAcademy projects with the same concept, but some students have designed their own connectors, such as Nadieh’s LED puzzle pieces that connect to the board. Similarly, this project from 2012 had chess pieces with magnets on the base that connect to Hall-effect sensors on the board.

There are also a wide assortment of Off-the-shelf connectors in the market, such as below;

	XT30	Round socket L shaped pin (丸ピンL字型)	Pogo Pin	Pogo Pin Probe

Price	Female: 50JPY + Male: 70JPY	Female: 150 JPY for 40pc Male: 15 JPY 10pc → 5.15 JPY	Approx. 300 JPY per pair	3000 JPY for 100

There are also vast collections of original CAD designs on websites like GrabCAD, Printable, 3Dfindit, etc such as this Magnetic Pogo pin.

I even tried to fabricate my own Pogo-pin connector using acrylic and laser cutter, although I eventually found that this wasn’t the best approach (I picked Laser cutter for its precision and speed, but acrylic was an unsuitable choice of material - too heavy and changes shape under heat.) alt text

What will you design?¶

Wooden Shelf: A simple shelf on which different socket pieces could be fitted. The spacing of the connectors will be allowed to stay arbitrary.
One or more example attachable Sockets: Starting with a standard USB-mounted socket piece and a respective connector (with the mystery circuit inside)
Small Socket PCB: Housing the required circuit, in order to easily connect attachable sockets to main board.
Main board (Xiao MD24): 16 Input pins for sensing different input devices, 1 SDA/SCL for I2C bus to use as Child device, 1 output pin for Programmable LED (that will signal successful connection).

What sources will you use?¶

My FabAcademy instructors, and other generous mentors, FabAcademy repository, many visits to the local library, Google Search, Youtube and TikTok tutorials.

What materials and components will be used? What parts and systems will be made? What processes will be Used?¶

Shelf: MDF, Laser cut, assembled to fit around a Wire Rack from the Dollar Store
An example Socket Piece: Type-A USB Socket, housed in 3D printed (or Laser-cut MDF) casing
Socket Connector: Header pins with resistors soldered on, housed inside 3D printed casing
Main Board: Copper sheets, milled, on which components like Resistors, Pin Headers are soldered on, and Seed Xiao MD24 is plugged in
Code for sensing socket placement and lighting up LED: C++, compiled and uploaded using Arduino IDE

What question will be answered?¶

How to design for diverse connection scenarios (different size, different number of sockets in a row/column, different directions of connection, etc)

How will it be evaluated?¶

Modularity (Versatility of different connections it can accommodate)
How easy it is to set up different connections (Time taken to attach a new socket)
Durability (Can withstand carrying around the house, and it won’t break after repeated use)
Not expensive or time-consuming to build

What tasks have been completed? What tasks remain?¶

Task	Status (12th Nov)	Remaining To-Do
Socket Conector	3D-printed prototype Complete	Ideally want to add components for circuit protection such as Capacitors and resistors
Main Board	Milling and Soldering Complete	Ideally want to create protective casing
Modular Shelf	Design complete. Fabrication half-complete	Laser-cut remaining pieces and assemble
Example Socket Piece	Half-complete	Fabricate remaining pieces and test
Code and Test	Half complete	Need to debug the programmable LED part
Video and slides	Not started	Ahhh

What questions need to be resolved?¶

How to write a code that enable easy scaling (adding and reducing of connectors and shelves)

Links¶

Lecture / Notes / Review
Some of my inspirations: Beautiful woodwork / Airable / Distributed sensing platform / very detailed documentation …
2025 honorable mentions