How I made a €2 ACTUATOR
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2020
- This is the full story of how I made FlexAR, an open source flexible pcb actuator! More info about it at www.flexar.io
My favourite PCB Manufacturer: www.pcbway.com
My favourite PCB Design Software: carlbugeja.com/altium
Free Version: www.altium.com/circuitmaker
FlexAR Video - • FlexAR - An Open Sourc...
EEVblog887 - The Economics Of Selling Hardware - • EEVblog #887 - The Eco...
Support my projects - / carlbugeja
My Flexible PCB Actuator - flexar.io
Cameras/Tools I use (affiliate links):
Main Camera: amzn.to/30tRgY7
Second Camera: amzn.to/2ZLm2wy
Light Setup: amzn.to/3jtqckA
Magnifying Lamp: amzn.to/3jrcaQv
Vernier Caliper: amzn.to/3eTju3I
Multi-meter: amzn.to/3hq6B2R
Digital Milligram Scale: amzn.to/30HIw1X
Website - carlbugeja.com
TH-cam Channel - / carlbugeja
Twitter - / bugejacarl
Instagram - / bugeja.carl
Facebook - / bugeja.carl
Linkedin - / carl-bugeja-0b922a135
Music:
Stars Align - Audio Library
The Old RV - Audio Library - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
I really like the price justification! Well done. I wish you the best of success!
Thanks 😊
4:54 A more accurate way is to weight 10 pieces and then divide the weight by 10 to get the average weight of 1 piece.
That's what I was thinking
Yeah, I don't believe that scale is accurate to the μg.
I wanted to write the same.
When working in stores between engineering jobs many years ago I was told that you should count out at least 1% of the batch with 10 being a minimum for items over 1g and 50 for items under 1 g. I suppose accuracy might have improved by now but not by that much.
Bro, you don’t owe anyone an explanation of the cost. Especially when it’s so inexpensive. I dig your work, homie!
you are the definition of an entrepreneur.
you push society forward and make money for yourself. everyone leaves happy. well done.
I've ordered a few. I'll chart the impedance characteristics from 10Hz-100kHz and send you the results if it's anything interesting.
Inductance = 30uH, Series resistance = 20 ohm, self resonant frequency = 2.38MHz
From those, you can calculate parallel capacitance to be 150pF and Q max to be 22.
Impedance plots are what you would expect from an inductor with those characteristics. Resistance dominates below 100kHz, then inductance up to 2.38MHz, then capacitance.
Caveats are:
- I've only bothered measuring one, so these are approximations due to the sample size.
- I measured in air with no magnet or core nearby. The magnet would change these values, but I think that would be too difficult to account for as the thing moves with respect to the magnet.
I wonder if you could drive it with a 100kHz-1MHz carrier modulated with the low frequency it physically moves at.
@@KX36 That's some goof work of you! I think it should be part of the datasheet. Did you do a bode plot of the frequency response?
@@KX36 mvp, thanks!
@@KX36 That's highly appreciated 👍🏻 thank you
The price is amazing, i just ordered a few to Germany. Thanks a lot!
Thank you so much 🙂🙏
@@CarlBugeja Awesome i received them today, just 4 days! Thank you
@@CarlBugeja Now I'm figuring out what driver circuit to use. For the future you might provide an example schematic.
I have ordered mine a few days back and can't wait to try it myself.
I guess you can cut few slits in the business card and slide the actuator through it.
That would prolly take too much time and effort for a one-man business. Unless he has employees dedicated to do this for him.
I think that you forgot the part were you quality tested the product into the cost. Maybe you want a bit more than 0€ per hour of work
Totally agree. He will make a bit more than €1000. Its not a lot for all the time he puts into this product
@@maxwelzig 1000? isn't it 3000? 1,17€ profit per piece and he has 3000 of them?
RadimentriX thats considering hes gonna sell all his stuff, and i very much doubt that
@@juliannmnnnm it says sold out on the website
I've been following this "idea/project" for quite some time now (I don't think from the beginning) and I honestly just want to express my appreciation and gratitude for the way you have documented your process on both a technical and financial scale. On multiple occasions, I have pondered how I could implement FlexAR in some of my home DIY projects (my "inventions" just haven't needed this type of actuator... yet) and I will continue to place this product at the top of my list for needed components! You have shared your thoughts (good and bad) and I really appreciate that! Thank you so much and keep up the fantastic work!
Lol at my man's smile in this video. That's a " it's happening. It's really happening! My hard work and planning is coming together and I'm gonna be successful." Smile. It makes me smile watching people succeed.
Stubled across this video randomly in my feed but holy cow, the design is incredibly clever and the part where you discuss the cost and revenue in very interesting. Wish you all the best with your business!
I will pass on to you a bit of wisdom I wish somebody told me: When you set a price, you're not setting it just to cover parts and labor with a little profit. You're pricing to cover growth of your business too. It may seem vain to think of your operations in these terms, but it's essential: You must price to grow, because growth will let you improve your product and offer a better service to the public ultimately.
Thank you for this!
I really amazed by the price calculation. Straightforward and honest.
I was waiting for this explanation from the time when you posted a teaser on Instagram 😄. Great job as always. 🤩
Suggestion: Please consider using a paper tape for sticking the PCB on the card because when you use other tapes and store them for months, the PCB will become sticky and it's a mess to remove that stickiness. It's all my personal experience with different types of tapes🙂
Haha thanks so much 🙂 I think it will be better yes if they get taped with paper
@@CarlBugeja you could also possibly fold over the business card for extra stiffness and tape it closed and then not have to put any tape on the actuator at all. But that might be too much work x3000.
@@CarlBugeja How about making two parallel cuts on the business card to make a sleeve and sliding the actuator in to hold it? You could then fold the top and bottom to make sure it doesn't slide out if you're worried about that.
It's funny how this is actually what I needed. I need it to build a co.pound actuator that work like an eye. Four of these and attract and repel a magnet to make it point to a direction. I had light/effective and this looks perfect.
Amazing work, motivates me to work on such projects too. Really appreciate the fact you covered the economics too :)
Really well done. I like the entrepreneurship spirit. Nice transparency throughout the process. Big thump up.
Thanks for the break down Carl. All makes sense. Maybe in the future since your PP costs are so high you can provide more value to your customers by adding some secondary HW since the cost of that wouldn't add as much to the price by ratio of PP costs. Can't wait to get mine. Now I actually have some ideas on what I want to do with them.
Who's going to make paper speakers now?
A book that reads when you open it?
A lot of cool projects can be made!
For flat speaker applications, a piezo would probably make more sense. (That's what musical greeting cards have been using forever.)
@@Gameboygenius oh really, didn't know that
Hi, i ordered 6 pcs to Austria. I dont know what i do with it But i will help your Business. And i love Magnets and arduino.
I did the same. With the same reason. But now I have it and want to make something with it.
Someone somewhere is gonna use this to make a musical instrument
Me. I am building a modular synth starting with the one transistor oscillator as described by look mum no computer. Also one of my gameboy color circuit boards needs a new speaker.
@@tentative_flora2690 Nice! If you post a video about it tell me!
If I do make a video it will be for tiktok but I can save the video and upload it here too.
@CatOfBlades on tiktok
th-cam.com/video/8OJQOjrmxVo/w-d-xo.html I soldered it to a gameboy. Apperently I need a transistor to increase the gain. Update soon maybe?
dont even know what is an "actuator"
Me too help me guys lol
An actuator recieves a electrical signal and works a mechanical pump, switch, motor or valve
actuation is movement, an actuator is a component that accomplishes motion or force application when you power it.
a regular DC motor is a kind of rotary actuator, Linear actuators also include a length of ballscrew so when the motor spins it can accomplish linear motion.
Hydraulic pistons and motors are a type of actuator that use fluid pressure instead of electricity to accomplish force and motion.
A solenoid is an example of a simple electromagnetic actuator. Very small RC planes sometimes use a simple magnet-in-a-coil type actuator for the control surfaces.
The Flex PCB is the coil part of an electromagnetic actuator. put it next to a magnet and it can apply force to it and cause motion of itself or the magnet.
a 'servo' actuator is one where you have fine control over it's position because something is measuring the position and feeding that into a circuit or processor which is controlling power to the actuator (this system is called a servomechanism). that way it can be kept at a precise location or RPM or apply a constant amount of force, etc.
since the flex PCB is springy, you can use it as a positional actuator since the more power you put in the coil the more it flexes, and by putting in AC you can make it flop back n forth at a specific frequency and exploit that predictable motion to build sweeping displays and the like.
But TL;DR an "actuator" is a component that takes power in some form and turns it into mechanical force and movement.
It’s something of the size of a blue pill to get it up. Easy.
When you go in a dark room and switch on the light, you're simply using an actuator to light up the room. An actuator in its simplest form is like a switch but here it is being used as a device which "acts" (becomes "active") when an electric current passes through the FlexAR coil to make it act like a magnetic switch
Like many others, I'm delighted to see such ingenuity, ordered 5
The numbers were really insightful
This is awesome, and you're doing awesome things. No idea what I'm going to use them for, but I just ordered 2 of them.
Excellent video. Looking forward to your next production.
so open about everything, I like it
This man spent around 1000 euros on pcbs to sell to us. I know he is probably making a small profit but DAMM, thanks for supporting your community. That is a lot of quid to blow and it will take quite a while to see just the money you put in come back. Mad props.
Ordered one. Good luck! Looking forward to more videos about interesting application with the flexAR :)
I received my flexar package today. The packaging is safe and the product in a good condition. It did not take long for me to find a usecase. So i am looking forward to using it.
For everyone asking themselves how to use it: The main advantages is its low mass inertia. Therefore it can switch with high frequency without using much energy. I personally use it to block a laser ray, as the solution is both cheap and extremely fast.
Thank you Carl Bugeja
And what a cool stamp you used 😂
It's hard to understand your english, but I say it ONLY because I see how GOOOOOOD your content is and I'm sad loosing bits and pieces of it because of the spelling. But ABOVE THAT - thank you very much for sharing your knowledge, experience and - paradoxically - very very very humanistic soul!!! Kudos from Poland! :)
This is very cool, thank you for your hard work.
👍👍👍👍🎉it's a great initiative by you bro...
😍
Just ordered 5 - great job!
I love your videos , people like you are my inspiration 🙏 keep doing what you love to do. Your viewer from India🙏
Nice work! I'll be looking forward to seeing what the community manages to do with this :)
I don't really need a FlexAR, and don't have any project for it, but ordered a few just to support your projects! :) Keep it up!
this is awesome! thanks for your work!
You could use these to make tiny integrated speakers/subwoofers in small devices
I agree with @Michael Phipps, I loved the price justification and your honesty and the hard work you put out into all this.
Honestly had no idea what I was coming to watch when I clicked on the video, and although some what over my head lol 😉 you seem to be a very impressive person.
I wish there were more people like you over here in the UK, determined to put so much work into what they love.
Also the actuator you made I'm assuming from scratch and designed? If so that's also pretty damn impressive.
Good luck with it all 😁🤞
It's ordered ! Good Job BTW :)
I dig it. I have an idea that I might like to try out and even though it is OSH, as you say, there are reasons for purchasing a ready made product and I'm always happy to support OSH projects from creators I enjoy. I just hope I get around to doing something with these(once ordered) sooner, rather than later. Laziness + FF14 don't add up to me being the most productive I could be, but if nothing else, I can say I have a few of the first FlexARs. And that double pass on the silk screen was a solid choice.
Fr tho I love that you even tell us what the expences are etc
I love the economic profit talk. _I always under sell myself/products_
Daaaamnn bro, that's hilarious, sadly I live in México and i don't know if the shipping will get here, but in the other side I wish you the best to you in selling your product😁❤️
Fantastic! I just ordered several :)
First order of business: trying to integrate a feedback controller to minimize flap for a step input. Should be fun!
Love your work!!!!! Inspriational!
Nice work. Very fair pricing.
Just ordered, greetings from Germany ✌🏻
That is nice product, and a great vidoe explaining evreything.Thumbs up! :)
I don't really understand what it's able to do but I'm happy to discover an honest guy today
Very impressive. You will be very successful. Next project please!
Just bought like 5 to support you. No idea what I'm going to use them for yet but I'll find something to do with them. Good job.
I will probably order in the future. I can think of lots of fun projects to make with this, but I've got to finish my current projects first.
cant wait to see this project blow up and get used in mainstream robotics,
This man is going places
It's a very awesome project!
I love your videos! Subscribed!
Keep helping humanity 💪🏻
Great job! I vote for the name "Flexible Actuator Robotics". The business card thing looks great. I wonder if this actuator could be used for bio-inspired underwater robots. Also the video is a great reference. Once again congratulations and good luck!
Thanks for keeping us updated and show some more details behind the project. Maybe i can use some of this information one day when i jump out of the corporate hamster wheel and start doing my own stuff.
Well done
It seems like you should also factor in your time in prep/shipping. It presumably takes you a while to test each one, tape it to the cardboard piece, put it in the envelope, print the shipping label, stick the label on the envelope, etc.
Superb🏴
Ordered a few. I will try them out and tell you what i think.
I just ordered a T-shirt, looks cool!
Very transparent, very affordable. I hope everything goes well for you
Nice build
Wow, you are my HERO!
Wow, I just saw this for the first time and am very impressed. I've got an Arduino Mini waiting to play with some FlexARs.
I just placed an order and now have that impatient wait for delivery. More time to think up ideas.
Excitement! My order just shipped!
Now I'm wondering what idea / product is coming next.
They arrived this morning. Now the fun begins seeing what I can make them do.
This is so cool i wanna order some
Wow, you are awesome for sharing your cost and why your are pricing it out a certain way. I might just pick up a few. I dont know what to do with it though...
I only wish i had know about this sooner!
honestly: you could charge more and I would be fine. There is so much economies of scale, testing, QA etc. in it, that charging 5$ for single quantity would be totally fine.
Handling small quantities of anything without loosing on every sale is hard.
Off-course, that becomes expensive when someone wants 10 for a project - but that only means that you either do not sell more then a few per costumer or you offer a bundles/multiples separately.
Also noting that people can always place their own orders, as it is open source.
You are really offering a service to people by selling it as a tested product in single quantity.
If someone in china thinks they can ship and sell cheaper: Awesome, that is not competition, that is making your life easier.
To reduce the Paypal costs it might be good idea to sell the FlexAR in multiples, like 6x or 10x at a time. Or sell through a store that has non-Paypal payment options (Tindie?).
It seems that most people are buying a few of them at once anyway.
Offering a 5-pack and a 10-pack sounds like a good idea!
Make them with a hole in the middle, stack them in three phase layers with a thin washer of the same material transformer laminations are made of in between each one, and use thin stacked neodymium disks in a center rod, and you could have an extremely fast and accurate linear actuator/stepper.
This is really cool! I'm going to order a few! It's funny that the actual PCB only costs a third of the sticker 😂
Props to make the pricing transparant
nice video and awesome work. keep going. :) (just buy yesterday 5 of them to support you)
You deserve more subscribers
You have definitely followed good engineering practice. IE get it working properly before reducing cost.
I am not sure what I will use them for yet, but I am placing an order to support your business. Given the IP (you’ve been working on this idea for ages) the price is very fair. I am really looking forward to working with them ☺️
Edit: Order placed.
You know TI has a solenoid chip that has 2nd-order compensation which means you get PID like positional response with a seemingly open-loop system! (Not exactly, the chip does current measurements internally)
That's some great info, thanks!
@@hellelujahh No problem! I found it when searching for a chip that can drive my voice coil motors. It's the DRV201, i think there are more like it.
Very interesting video as always! To me it seems your actuator is priced very fairly (if not cheap) as you didn't factor the time and cost of R&D in your final price .
I am sure you already considered it but maybe for bigger order some sort of rigid envelop or box would end up costing a bit less over multiple business card?
I hope you sell all 3000 of them and many more! keep up the great work!
Amazing channel
Sold Out(: eagerly awaiting for your next batch
Magnets are sold out but the PCBs are still in stock 😉
@@CarlBugeja my bad.. Thanks :)
que buenos videos haces chulo what good videos you make
I'm waiting for the arrival of 4 PCBs for the levitation device. I really loved this video about the production and price calculation. It would've been even better if you measured the inductance of the coils along the resistance ( or I'm blind and it's posted).
Maybe this helps. Its not mine, but from a KX36´s comment posted above (I don´t know how to refer to that comment here):
Inductance = 30uH, Series resistance = 20 ohm, self resonant frequency = 2.38MHz
From those, you can calculate parallel capacitance to be 150pF and Q max to be 22.
Impedance plots are what you would expect from an inductor with those characteristics. Resistance dominates below 100kHz, then inductance up to 2.38MHz, then capacitance.
Caveats are:
- I've only bothered measuring one, so these are approximations due to the sample size.
- I measured in air with no magnet or core nearby. The magnet would change these values, but I think that would be too difficult to account for as the thing moves with respect to the magnet.
Plots:
i.imgur.com/plMCLv8.png
Ship a magnet (the small neodymium one that you use) with the FlexAR too!
there is an option for that in the website but the magnets are current are out of stock.. they should be back in stock next week :)
@@CarlBugeja All the best man!! You are doing great... 😇😇😇
This could be useful for a laser galvo. Attach a mirror/blank film to the actuator and you have a very sensitive way of redirecting a laser beam. Perhaps map the range of actuation to analog voltages to get fine grain control
A tip for your packaging, instead of using tape, maybe try two small slits that the actuators leads pass through from front, to back to front again. That way its held gently in place with just the card, eliminating an extra consumable cost and the chance or end-user damage related to aggressive tape removal.
Keep up inventing!
Parabéns. Muito legal.
I love the idea of your micro machines and FlexAR. I have just bought 4, but i have no idea what i would use them for. Are you working on something to compliment FlexAR?
For your verification process, when you were using a single PCB and tare to figure out the quantities, I would strongly suggest weighing 10 PCBs and using that weight /10 to make sure you get a consistent polling.
Bless you
Awesome channel
Just got here now
I have so many questions 🤣
Where and what did you study if I may ask
Kind regards:)
From South Africa
I dont even know what an actuator is!
But wishing you luck on FlexAR
Looks interesting
Hi. Sounds great.
I wanna induce a very low amplitude vibration in a flexible plate. Is that possible by pcb?
2euro is nothing. Really cool project and channel. I subscribed. Quick question, how do you drive these?