The serial cable kit was formally released at work last week - the usage instruction manual was completed, and the construction manual as well. Confirmed cost came in at $48.87 per kit if 20 were made, $97 to make a single using company approved vendors and their MOQs for certain parts - If Ebay was used, the price per single kit still sits around $40. Either way you look at it, it is a dramatic reduction in price compared to the Mk2 kits I made back in 2008 - they came in at $400 per kit for the same functionality as the Mk3/4 Kits.
In the meanwhile here are a few photos taken during construction, and a couple of snapshots of the finished kit, and construction manual.
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| Photo 1 - breadboard cut to form baseboard |
The baseboard is a small segment of breadboard anchored to a baseboard which incorporates the breadboard, the serial cable terminations, cable anchors, and module "ejection mechanism"
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| Photo 2 - Baseboard and anchor plates - under construction |
Everything in this kit was designed to minimise costs, and as such salvaged materials were used wherever possible - including salvaged screen-door extrusion for the anchor plates -the construction manual has drawings of all parts to be constructed, and alternate dimensions/ drawings if the extrusion was substituted with pieces made from simple sheet metal.
The "modules" are simply modified IC sockets, which are later labelled and "potted" for protection and resilience.
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| Photo 3 - "Modules" under construction |
The serial cable is modified to suit the cable kits requirements. All construction for the prototype kits was made using tooling and equipment in my field desk - including the third-hand, modified pliers, solder pens, etc
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| Photo 4 - Serial cables being modified to suit kit |
Compact/ resilient storage of the kit and components was one of the deliverables I placed in the kit design. I accomplished this by modifying a commercially available storage box, and then constructing stack-able compartments which slid inside the outer case.
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| Photo 5 - Completed modules in stacked storage compartment |
The user manual was deliberately formatted so when printed it could be trimmed to fit in a designated space in the the container - the finished manual measures 245 x 185mm (9 5/8 x 7 1/4") and is around 25 pages thick (printed in duplex, but with 6 pages of blank paper for notepaper)
I will have to "de-crest" the manual/s if they were published here since they reference work, and the department I work in - since they were the target audience of the design.
I've blanked out the company/ section details, and my address information on the thumb-drive label - hence the white blotches
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| Photo 6 - Completed kit with instruction manual in lid |
The construction manual contains a number of progress photos, drawings, tips and alternate materials discussions. I wrote the manual with second year electrical apprentices in mind - some familiarity with basic hand-skills, interpretation of drawings, and the sense to know what holes get changed if you change a countersunk screw from 3/16"-24 to 4mm. The manual printed out to 29 pages of duplex A4.
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| Photo 7 - Sample page from construction manual |
As mentioned, I'll have to de-crest the manuals before publishing them here - not a huge amount of work, but still anything which adds to my "TTD (Things to Do) list" is not overly welcome right now. If I get some time spare, I'll do it in the next week or so, and add them here: (links will reference google docs)
User Manual
Construction Manual
I'll post again when something is completed, progressing, or worth discussing.
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