I bought one shortly after the quickstarts came out for $10 to toss a QS and a retractable USB into my computer bag. At $.99, they're heck of a deal! I also found one a bit larger, I'll have to see what it will hold.
I just checked ebay and there are all sorts for sale there. The cheapest seem to be about $2.
I notice a lot of the sellers state the wallets are resistant to RFID. I've been playing with some inexpensive RFID readers lately. I think I'll test my RFID cards with a layer of aluminum between the reader and the card to see how much of a difference a sheet or wallet of aluminum makes.
Is the aluminum much thicker than the aluminum of an aluminum can?
Are there two different kinds in your video? It looks like some have ridges and some don't? Is that right?
Project boxes can be crazy expensive. I'm always looking for inexpensive boxes that can be used for projects. These look like a really good size for all sorts of projects.
HAHA, that's awesome! I got one of those shortly after they came out for a Propeller project. If I can find it in my cabinet, I'll post some pics. I agree that they are a very nice project case at 99 cents.
Erco "the shelves are starting to thin out at the 99c Store!".
You could certainly build a little robot into that case but cutting it might be a challenge. You can't easily sandwich it in a vise and mill out pockets, but maybe a 250W laser cutter could cut some shapes in it for something more interesting than what a drill press could do.
Great challenge. I can see it in our future already: Erco's wallet case robot challenge!
I have used similar case, but much slimmer one, the one that can hold 4-5 cards. Most problematic was the battery, had to use CR2016 cells. Display was created using 0805 leds (to form 7 segment chars).
Erco "the shelves are starting to thin out at the 99c Store!".
You could certainly build a little robot into that case but cutting it might be a challenge. You can't easily sandwich it in a vise and mill out pockets, but maybe a 250W laser cutter could cut some shapes in it for something more interesting than what a drill press could do.
Great challenge. I can see it in our future already: Erco's wallet case robot challenge!
Ken Gracey
Or... Erco's wallet case robot figure-eight challenge!
I've had my aluminum wallets for a while now and I've also had some OLEDs I've been meaning to try. I finally got around to doing something with these two things today.
After initially drilling some holes and cutting a rectangle from the wallet, I found the plastic and the aluminum weren't as closely merged as they had been initially.
I appeared that the heat from cutting had caused the aluminum to pull away from the plastic a bit. I decided to try some hot air on the aluminum to see if it would soften the glue and sure enough, the aluminum piece fell off once it had been heated. The aluminum is held in place from hot glue.
Above is a picture of the aluminum skin separated from the rest of the wallet. Below is a picture of the pieces after cleaning up the old glue (Goo Gone works well).
I decided to hold the OLED in place with some machine screws and nuts. I think the next version I try, I won't use the machine screws; I'll just hold the display from behind with some glue.
I'm trying to figure out if the OLED display would look better mounted right up against the aluminum or if the display should be mounted on the other side of the plastic. If I mount the display directly on the aluminum, I'll need to cut a hole in the plastic section large enough to fit the display's PCB.
As erco mentioned, a QuickStart will fit inside one of these wallets, however there isn't room above the QuickStart's header for normal connections to be made. I'm sure I'll be able to fit a Propeller with power supply inside the wallet, but I haven't been able to do so yet.
I'm planning on powering the "wallet" with a single AA Li-Ion cell. While the AA cell fits inside the wallet, the battery holder does not fit. I needed about 2mm of additional space to get the battery holder to fit. Fortunately the plastic of the wallet is about 2mm thick so I removed enough plastic from the top of the case so the AA cell and holder would fit.
Here's the insides so far.
I'm using one of the ubiquitous 5V boost regulators (on ebay) erco told us about. The boost regulator allows one to use a single LiPo or Li-Ion cell to power a 5V device.
I'll likely need to modify the wiring from the battery to the regulator so it fits better. One thing I've noticed with this and other small enclosures is the connectors can be a big factor in whether or not a component will fit inside the enclosure. You really need to wait to add a connector and wires to a component until after you know where the component will be located.
I'll probably add a MPU5050 sensor and a Nordic nRF24L01+ transceiver and use this wallet as a tilt controller for a robot.
I'd like to rebuild my GPS datalogger using one of these wallets. I think the GPS datalogger will likely have more components than this current wallet project so I'll probably need to use a Propeller board smaller than the QuickStart.
I'll need to figure out if I need to cut through the aluminum or not so the GPS module can have a better view of the sky.
BTW, I used the OLED display from ITead I linked to earlier. I wasn't able to get the display to work in I2C mode but the code in the OBEX for SPI mode works fine. You'll need to follow the directions from ITead on how to convert the display from I2C mode to SPI mode.
If a couple of holes in the plastic are good, a bunch of holes must be better, right?
I think this project is now the official victim of feature creep. I think it's going to be pretty cool though.
My wife asked why I don't just cut away the whole inner plastic area and just leave enough plastic so the aluminum skins can still attach. I think she has a point and I might try just a plastic frame sometime but for now the various holes makes it easier to position the various components. The think the skeletal remains of the plastic portion will help the aluminum hold its shape better than if there were just two big holes.
I gave up on the QuickStart board because I was having too much trouble fitting what I wanted in the case. But once I switched to a smaller Propeller board than the QuickStart, I had so much extra space I started adding features. These new features were again taking up too much room so I started cutting way at the plastic.
It might be a couple of days before I have the guts installed. I have to make a bunch of custom connections so the wiring doesn't take up too much space.
I like these aluminum wallets as portable project cases better than my previous solution.
The Sucrets box at one time held my GPS datalogger. This aluminum wallet project is a trial run at using the wallets as an enclosure prior to my redoing the GPS project. I think the GPS datalogger will look much more dignified in an aluminum wallet than it had in a plastic Sucrets box.
You will probably have issues with GPS signal if the patch antenna has not a window to get signals from the outside...
The project looks great!
Massimo
You will probably have issues with GPS signal if the patch antenna has not a window to get signals from the outside...
I'll make sure I test the GPS inside the wallet before I try to use it internally. If there's a problem with reception, I'll cut a hole for the antenna like I cut a hole for the display. The GPS module I plan to use has really good reception. I'll be surprised if it can't get a good lock from behind the aluminum.
I'll likely cut a hole for the antenna even if the GPS module will work without it. I haven't decided if the patch antenna should be above of below the display.
It turns out my problem with the digital compass was two fold. One problem was caused by the piezo speaker which apparently has a magnet inside of it. This was causing a overflow in the sensor reading. This problem was minimized by moving the piezo as far as I could from the compass. I also learned I could adjust the gain of the compass to turn down its sensitivity. So now if the sensor overflows at start up, the program will keep adjusting the gain until it gets a valid reading from the compass.
The other problem was a bad solder joint in the ground connection from the compass (and RTC which share power and I2C bus). The compass appears to behaving itself now.
I used one forth of one of jazzed's TetraProp boards. I used the short machined pin headers in order to have enough room to place the Propeller board behind the OLED (with a uSD socket sandwiched in between). Normal pins wouldn't fit in such a tight location so I cut the male machined pin headers in half and soldered some thin wire to the stub left on top of the pin. I added Polymorph to hold multiple pins together and to add some strain relief for the wires.
Here's a closeup of the shortened pins.
These connectors were a pain to make but I'm not sure how else I would have been able to get the wallet to close.
Here's a shot of the inside of the wallet.
I haven't added the top aluminium skin yet. Without the aluminum skin, it's easy to see where the parts are placed.
The ADC monitors the battery and the program will display a warning on the OLED and beep the piezo if the battery voltage gets too low (I think it's set for 3.6V right now).
I don't know why erco finds it so amusing to play his Jedi mind tricks on me. You'd think I'd have better things to do than making hand made mini electrical connectors so I could have a really really dumb smart phone (that's not a phone).
Eventually, this will be able to do things (well, one thing) a smart phone can't. (I haven't added the part that will allow me to do that thing yet.) Stay tuned.
:surprise: I had to look twice! There was a QuickStart board in there.
The earlier version had a QuickStart board. The newer "Swiss Cheese" version has a much smaller board.
One of the advantages of the small board is the low profile machined pin headers.
In case it's not obvious, I'm currently using a roll of yellow electrical tape. I'm using the electrical tape to keep things from shorting out against the aluminum sides. The RTC is insulated with Polymorph.
Maybe you could use some SpinSocket PCBs (free if I can find them!).
I have sections of TetraProp boards in several of my project.
I have one of your SpinSocket PCBs from the Smorgaboard. I thought of using it or some other small Propeller board from the Smorgasboard but I would have had to go down to the basement to get the Smorgasboard and I had a piece of a TetraProp board within arms reach (this is often how part selection takes place).
erco
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Comments
I just checked ebay and there are all sorts for sale there. The cheapest seem to be about $2.
I notice a lot of the sellers state the wallets are resistant to RFID. I've been playing with some inexpensive RFID readers lately. I think I'll test my RFID cards with a layer of aluminum between the reader and the card to see how much of a difference a sheet or wallet of aluminum makes.
Is the aluminum much thicker than the aluminum of an aluminum can?
Are there two different kinds in your video? It looks like some have ridges and some don't? Is that right?
Project boxes can be crazy expensive. I'm always looking for inexpensive boxes that can be used for projects. These look like a really good size for all sorts of projects.
Dunno 'bout thickness, one day I'll cut one up and see. I hope a nibbling tool will cut cleanly.
And no, it's smooth on one side and ridges on the other. Video shows both sides of yellow one.
You could certainly build a little robot into that case but cutting it might be a challenge. You can't easily sandwich it in a vise and mill out pockets, but maybe a 250W laser cutter could cut some shapes in it for something more interesting than what a drill press could do.
Great challenge. I can see it in our future already: Erco's wallet case robot challenge!
Ken Gracey
I was thinking of using something like this.
As Ken mentioned, it might be a trick getting a hole cut the right size but I bet it could be done with a Dremel (or a 250W laser cutter).
Or... Erco's wallet case robot figure-eight challenge!
Circling around two extra aluminum wallets, natch!
How about a "Wallet Wall-E" robot?
After initially drilling some holes and cutting a rectangle from the wallet, I found the plastic and the aluminum weren't as closely merged as they had been initially.
I appeared that the heat from cutting had caused the aluminum to pull away from the plastic a bit. I decided to try some hot air on the aluminum to see if it would soften the glue and sure enough, the aluminum piece fell off once it had been heated. The aluminum is held in place from hot glue.
Above is a picture of the aluminum skin separated from the rest of the wallet. Below is a picture of the pieces after cleaning up the old glue (Goo Gone works well).
I decided to hold the OLED in place with some machine screws and nuts. I think the next version I try, I won't use the machine screws; I'll just hold the display from behind with some glue.
I'm trying to figure out if the OLED display would look better mounted right up against the aluminum or if the display should be mounted on the other side of the plastic. If I mount the display directly on the aluminum, I'll need to cut a hole in the plastic section large enough to fit the display's PCB.
As erco mentioned, a QuickStart will fit inside one of these wallets, however there isn't room above the QuickStart's header for normal connections to be made. I'm sure I'll be able to fit a Propeller with power supply inside the wallet, but I haven't been able to do so yet.
Here's the insides so far.
I'm using one of the ubiquitous 5V boost regulators (on ebay) erco told us about. The boost regulator allows one to use a single LiPo or Li-Ion cell to power a 5V device.
I'll likely need to modify the wiring from the battery to the regulator so it fits better. One thing I've noticed with this and other small enclosures is the connectors can be a big factor in whether or not a component will fit inside the enclosure. You really need to wait to add a connector and wires to a component until after you know where the component will be located.
I'll probably add a MPU5050 sensor and a Nordic nRF24L01+ transceiver and use this wallet as a tilt controller for a robot.
I'd like to rebuild my GPS datalogger using one of these wallets. I think the GPS datalogger will likely have more components than this current wallet project so I'll probably need to use a Propeller board smaller than the QuickStart.
I'll need to figure out if I need to cut through the aluminum or not so the GPS module can have a better view of the sky.
BTW, I used the OLED display from ITead I linked to earlier. I wasn't able to get the display to work in I2C mode but the code in the OBEX for SPI mode works fine. You'll need to follow the directions from ITead on how to convert the display from I2C mode to SPI mode.
I think this project is now the official victim of feature creep. I think it's going to be pretty cool though.
My wife asked why I don't just cut away the whole inner plastic area and just leave enough plastic so the aluminum skins can still attach. I think she has a point and I might try just a plastic frame sometime but for now the various holes makes it easier to position the various components. The think the skeletal remains of the plastic portion will help the aluminum hold its shape better than if there were just two big holes.
I gave up on the QuickStart board because I was having too much trouble fitting what I wanted in the case. But once I switched to a smaller Propeller board than the QuickStart, I had so much extra space I started adding features. These new features were again taking up too much room so I started cutting way at the plastic.
It might be a couple of days before I have the guts installed. I have to make a bunch of custom connections so the wiring doesn't take up too much space.
JK! As ever, you dive headfirst into all your projects, Pal. Great work and documentation!
I'm getting hungry for some swiss cheese for some reason.
The Sucrets box at one time held my GPS datalogger. This aluminum wallet project is a trial run at using the wallets as an enclosure prior to my redoing the GPS project. I think the GPS datalogger will look much more dignified in an aluminum wallet than it had in a plastic Sucrets box.
The project looks great!
Massimo
I'll make sure I test the GPS inside the wallet before I try to use it internally. If there's a problem with reception, I'll cut a hole for the antenna like I cut a hole for the display. The GPS module I plan to use has really good reception. I'll be surprised if it can't get a good lock from behind the aluminum.
I'll likely cut a hole for the antenna even if the GPS module will work without it. I haven't decided if the patch antenna should be above of below the display.
The other problem was a bad solder joint in the ground connection from the compass (and RTC which share power and I2C bus). The compass appears to behaving itself now.
I used one forth of one of jazzed's TetraProp boards. I used the short machined pin headers in order to have enough room to place the Propeller board behind the OLED (with a uSD socket sandwiched in between). Normal pins wouldn't fit in such a tight location so I cut the male machined pin headers in half and soldered some thin wire to the stub left on top of the pin. I added Polymorph to hold multiple pins together and to add some strain relief for the wires.
Here's a closeup of the shortened pins.
These connectors were a pain to make but I'm not sure how else I would have been able to get the wallet to close.
Here's a shot of the inside of the wallet.
I haven't added the top aluminium skin yet. Without the aluminum skin, it's easy to see where the parts are placed.
The ADC monitors the battery and the program will display a warning on the OLED and beep the piezo if the battery voltage gets too low (I think it's set for 3.6V right now).
I don't know why erco finds it so amusing to play his Jedi mind tricks on me. You'd think I'd have better things to do than making hand made mini electrical connectors so I could have a really really dumb smart phone (that's not a phone).
Eventually, this will be able to do things (well, one thing) a smart phone can't. (I haven't added the part that will allow me to do that thing yet.) Stay tuned.
The earlier version had a QuickStart board. The newer "Swiss Cheese" version has a much smaller board.
One of the advantages of the small board is the low profile machined pin headers.
In case it's not obvious, I'm currently using a roll of yellow electrical tape. I'm using the electrical tape to keep things from shorting out against the aluminum sides. The RTC is insulated with Polymorph.
Nice board ;-)
Maybe you could use some SpinSocket PCBs (free if I can find them!).
They are much easier to use than cutting up a TetraProp.
I have sections of TetraProp boards in several of my project.
I have one of your SpinSocket PCBs from the Smorgaboard. I thought of using it or some other small Propeller board from the Smorgasboard but I would have had to go down to the basement to get the Smorgasboard and I had a piece of a TetraProp board within arms reach (this is often how part selection takes place).