Earlier you were talking about how you wanted to grade everyone on how good of a designer they were. I think this idea is great, but you should also allow the consumers to post what they think about the designer to help people planning on buying from them. Not only will this help others buying kits, but if the designer sees nothing but bad comments written about them, they are probably going to clean up their act to give a better perception to their customers. Also, this will increase the perception of Gangster Gadgets itself because of all the great support the customers will receive.
I agree with Bean, too. Builders will get higher quality projects. It will be easier for you to design & document your project.
About 80% of my inventory is currently sourced through mouser. If you login to your designers account (here) then click on #1 (submit your project now), you'll see the regular inventory grid with a column labeled 'source'. Just click on that and it will take you to the mouser product page.
Does that work? There are a few inventory items I'm still missing a source link for, I'll try to get those updated in the next few days.
For reviews, I think it will be entirely customer driven. When a customer gets your project, they'll have a chance to review it. Reviews are aggregated, giving each designer an 'average project score' (Here's a sample profile - stole the stars from netflix). Each project will have a score, too.
Got my order in this morning! Very nice package! Thank you.
Comment: I think you could save yourself some printing by adding a note
that has all the designer planning kit pages online.
These boards are very heavy duty and look well designed.
I'll be using Gadget Gangster boards for all my protoboard projects.
They make my Radio Shack perfboards look like the Smile they are. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Comment to designers: I'll remove all the tape immediately to prevent
it from becoming a sticky goo even if you aren't going to use all the
boards soon.
Nick, · Here is my first project. · It's an easy one. It's the old Cylon / Knight Rider project with LEDs that go back and forth. · There is a pot to adjust the speed.
· One change from the photos is that I made the LED resistors 100 ohms instead of 220 as shown because the LEDs where not bright enough with the 220 ohms.
· Let me know what you think and the cost for getting two (2) kits (see parts.txt).
[noparse][[/noparse]edit] 10-27-2008 Attached updated documentation. Still not done, but enough to build it.
Bean.
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
Glad you like the boards! Bean helped alot with the initial design. I ended up doing 4 or 5 revisions of each before finalizing. I'd get a prototype, build a project on it and say, "Wouldn't it be cool if...". That's why there's an area to connect 2-Row cables, each RCA has a separate ground, the RJ45 / 11 Breakout board mounts flush, counting ticks on the columns, the 2-Row area has rounded traces to make it harder to bridge, and so on. Another big thing was making it easy to solder in the DE-9 area.
I only included a printed inventory checklist / Design tips / Board photo in paid orders. It's pretty expensive to print those. The board photo is awesome for designing because you can sketch out where the components go with a pencil. If you login to the site, you can download a PDF version.
I can ship the boards for about $3 via 1st Class Mail, so I'll be lowering shipping on the website shortly. The other Designers Packs are too big to ship via 1st class, though.
We'll eventually add a few more designs; Something more customized for each uController. We'll also add more breakout boards.
@Seth - I'm all for robotics stuff, I'm just no good at sourcing it. Imho, the sweet spot for pricing a robotics project is probably $200 - $250. That means a bill of materials of around $100. I can't support custom molding, but I can send sheets of materials. Can you suggest a wheel / motor set?
Another suggestion - could you take over an existing hardware device? Say you rip the controller out of a Tickle Me Elmo & replace it with a propeller on a half board? A tickle me elmo driven by my TV Remote would be pretty cool. That will also allow a builder to have a robot for pretty cheap.
You could probably build one from these if you are careful.
Bean.
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
I opted to attempt a on-the-fly design for a simple propeller.
At the end of the day, things were not fairing well, so this morning
I sat down and created some simple tools for Paint allowing me to
place the basics onscreen and get a better idea for plannng.
Here's an X-ray vision view of the larger Gadgetganster board.
Grab the attached file for best resolution.
I'm working on a minipropeller board using the video connections
with PS2 keyboard and SIP connection for SD.
Edit: Use the downloadable version only!
Found a serious bug in my graphic. It has been fixed and re-attached.
OBC
It's pretty tempting to design 'by meandering'; just plop the uC somewhere that looks good, and start connecting things. You'll get to a point where you'll say, "Gosh, I should have put that there", especially when it comes to putting things on the other side of IC's. A little bit of planning helps a lot.
I sent out a few more boards this weekend. If you're not sure what project you want to post, I've been collecting project ideas for a while. A lot of the suggestions are pretty ambitious, but you might find it interesting - here's the list.
Added a few things to the inventory & added the sources to a few more components;
Added two Op Amps for supporting Brian's project. I'm still working thru his inventory suggestions.
Added a Parallax PS/2 Breakout board.
Added a new tiny speaker
Added a 1xAAA battery holder. This holder can be attached directly to a project board.
Nick,
If you want to build the Cylon LEDs project, I updated the documentation in the previous post. The "Cylon LEDs.pdf" should have enough info for you to build one.
When I get the kits, I will do a more detailed document.
Bean.
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
When will my boards get here? I signed up on Saturday. Also, how about a 2/3 color LED, or a 2 pin 2 color LED? Red/green and red/green/blue?
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I am 1011, so be surprised!
Advertisement sponsored by dfletch:
Come and join us on the Propeller IRC channel for fast and easy help!
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Nick, · If you or anyone else builds this...Here is new firmware that uses PWM to fade down the LEDs. · So instead of the LEDs just going off, they fade down (like the real Cylon visors did). · Much cooler than the original software.
Bean.
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
I dropped them in the mail sunday via 1st Class Mail, so probably Wednesday or Thursday. I'll look into RGB & RG LED's. What are you thinking of designing?
Question that nobody wants to ask: What about taxes? Will you keep track, and send out an income statement every January? Does the designer keep track of this? Or is it "under the radar"?
If it was "under the radar" before, it certainly isn't now! Seriously, a legitmate business has to send out 1099s every year to non-corporate payees at the risk of penalties from the IRS.
No, it's not under the radar [noparse]:)[/noparse] . If you make more than $600 on Gadget Gangster, we'll send you a 1099. It's easy to add it to your taxes, though.
So I got the ShapeLock plastic in the mail this Saturday - busted it open and started playing with it. It's pretty cool - I can see it as an easy way to connect a servo to another object, build a mount, stuff like that. It's pretty hard to mold it into an original object, much easier to squish it in a mold, or add mounting holes to an object, stuff like that. When warm, it has the texture of melting rubber.
It gets really hard - too. I used the bit I got to make a mount for my speakers. I'll add it to the inventory.
If you use .gif instead of .bmp for your board graphic, you can set one of the colors to be transparent (such as the white of the background). That way you can copy components and not wipe out any of the trace detail underneath when you paste them onto the board.
PaintShopPro is a great graphics program that can edit almost any file type. I don't know if it's still shareware or what version it's up to now, but I paid for version 4 back in the 90's and still use it today. I remember version 3 would keep running forever, even after the "30 day trial" was up.
Hope OBC doesn't mind - attached is a png & gif version of his graphic. I should also plug GIMP, my personal favorite graphics editor. PSP is good, too.
Paint Shop Pro is now Corel Paint Shop Pro (or something like that). They're on version 12, I think (XII). If you watch for sales & rebates, you can get it for under $100.
I finally got my stock of battery holders yesterday (Bean - I sent your kits out overnight yesterday evening). I sat down and built Bean's Cylon lights project.
The build was really straightforward - it took me about 30 mins to build just looking at the photos. I really like the schematics he did, too, as it gives a bit of additional understanding of the project. I haven't programmed for the SX before, but it seems like a pretty cool chip that compares favorably to atmel's lower cost offerings.
Really - this project is a perfect example of using the right tools. Using a battery pack is great, too (so I can install it behind the grill of my Metro). Prop's are great for doing fancy things, SX's are great for doing basic things.
It's also a good example of how a project doesn't have to be complicated. A lot of beginners are happy just getting a light to blink & they don't want an expensive project for their first try. I think the project compares favorably to ladyada's digg kit (runs an ATtiny). I'll take a few pictures and make a video & put it up tonight.
I also did a small project of my own: Kits come pre-programmed, so I needed a programmer for the SX. I made a simple project to connect the SX key to the SX for programming. I just made it for my personal use, but I can't see why I shouldn't share it, so I'll put it up on the site.
You probably already know this, but gadgetgangster.com is down. MySQL database error. Could be a file was moved, your query code got changed, or something changed on your server. Hope you get it figured out soon.
-Seth
P.S. Would I be correct in guessing that the language used is PHP? And did you code it?
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The pessimist is never disappointed.
Comments
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Pi Guy
OBC
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with a Propeller Protoboard?
Check out: Introduction to the Proboard & Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card connected? - PropDOS
About 80% of my inventory is currently sourced through mouser. If you login to your designers account (here) then click on #1 (submit your project now), you'll see the regular inventory grid with a column labeled 'source'. Just click on that and it will take you to the mouser product page.
Does that work? There are a few inventory items I'm still missing a source link for, I'll try to get those updated in the next few days.
For reviews, I think it will be entirely customer driven. When a customer gets your project, they'll have a chance to review it. Reviews are aggregated, giving each designer an 'average project score' (Here's a sample profile - stole the stars from netflix). Each project will have a score, too.
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Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
What about raw materials like polycarbonate or plastic sheets?
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The pessimist is never disappointed.
Post Edited (Seth) : 10/23/2008 6:45:45 PM GMT
Comment: I think you could save yourself some printing by adding a note
that has all the designer planning kit pages online.
These boards are very heavy duty and look well designed.
I'll be using Gadget Gangster boards for all my protoboard projects.
They make my Radio Shack perfboards look like the Smile they are. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Comment to designers: I'll remove all the tape immediately to prevent
it from becoming a sticky goo even if you aren't going to use all the
boards soon.
Now what shall I create first?
OBC
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with a Propeller Protoboard?
Check out: Introduction to the Proboard & Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card connected? - PropDOS
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Pi Guy
· Here is my first project.
· It's an easy one. It's the old Cylon / Knight Rider project with LEDs that go back and forth.
· There is a pot to adjust the speed.
· One change from the photos is that I made the LED resistors 100 ohms instead of 220 as shown because the LEDs where not bright enough with the 220 ohms.
· Let me know what you think and the cost for getting two (2) kits (see parts.txt).
[noparse][[/noparse]edit] 10-27-2008 Attached updated documentation. Still not done, but enough to build it.
Bean.
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
www.iElectronicDesigns.com
Post Edited (Bean (Hitt Consulting)) : 10/27/2008 6:51:18 PM GMT
I only included a printed inventory checklist / Design tips / Board photo in paid orders. It's pretty expensive to print those. The board photo is awesome for designing because you can sketch out where the components go with a pencil. If you login to the site, you can download a PDF version.
I can ship the boards for about $3 via 1st Class Mail, so I'll be lowering shipping on the website shortly. The other Designers Packs are too big to ship via 1st class, though.
We'll eventually add a few more designs; Something more customized for each uController. We'll also add more breakout boards.
@Seth - I'm all for robotics stuff, I'm just no good at sourcing it. Imho, the sweet spot for pricing a robotics project is probably $200 - $250. That means a bill of materials of around $100. I can't support custom molding, but I can send sheets of materials. Can you suggest a wheel / motor set?
Another suggestion - could you take over an existing hardware device? Say you rip the controller out of a Tickle Me Elmo & replace it with a propeller on a half board? A tickle me elmo driven by my TV Remote would be pretty cool. That will also allow a builder to have a robot for pretty cheap.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
Post Edited By Moderator (Chris Savage (Parallax)) : 10/27/2008 4:28:53 PM GMT
You could probably build one from these if you are careful.
Bean.
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
www.iElectronicDesigns.com
At the end of the day, things were not fairing well, so this morning
I sat down and created some simple tools for Paint allowing me to
place the basics onscreen and get a better idea for plannng.
Here's an X-ray vision view of the larger Gadgetganster board.
Grab the attached file for best resolution.
I'm working on a minipropeller board using the video connections
with PS2 keyboard and SIP connection for SD.
Edit: Use the downloadable version only!
Found a serious bug in my graphic. It has been fixed and re-attached.
OBC
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
New to the Propeller?
Getting started with a Propeller Protoboard?
Check out: Introduction to the Proboard & Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card connected? - PropDOS
Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 10/25/2008 7:26:23 PM GMT
You might want to check out some of their other stuff too.
P.S. I got my boards today. Wow, they are really good.
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The pessimist is never disappointed.
I sent out a few more boards this weekend. If you're not sure what project you want to post, I've been collecting project ideas for a while. A lot of the suggestions are pretty ambitious, but you might find it interesting - here's the list.
Added a few things to the inventory & added the sources to a few more components;
Also working on the support forums. ALMOST there!
Anyway - that's it for now.
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Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
If you want to build the Cylon LEDs project, I updated the documentation in the previous post. The "Cylon LEDs.pdf" should have enough info for you to build one.
When I get the kits, I will do a more detailed document.
Bean.
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
www.iElectronicDesigns.com
·
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I am 1011, so be surprised!
Advertisement sponsored by dfletch:
Come and join us on the Propeller IRC channel for fast and easy help!
Channel: #propeller
Server: irc.freenode.net or freenode.net
If you don't want to bother installing an IRC client, use Mibbit. www.mibbit.com
· If you or anyone else builds this...Here is new firmware that uses PWM to fade down the LEDs.
· So instead of the LEDs just going off, they fade down (like the real Cylon visors did).
· Much cooler than the original software.
Bean.
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
www.iElectronicDesigns.com
Bean - thanks for the updated firmware!
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Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
If it was "under the radar" before, it certainly isn't now!
-Phil
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Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
It gets really hard - too. I used the bit I got to make a mount for my speakers. I'll add it to the inventory.
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Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
If you use .gif instead of .bmp for your board graphic, you can set one of the colors to be transparent (such as the white of the background). That way you can copy components and not wipe out any of the trace detail underneath when you paste them onto the board.
PaintShopPro is a great graphics program that can edit almost any file type. I don't know if it's still shareware or what version it's up to now, but I paid for version 4 back in the 90's and still use it today. I remember version 3 would keep running forever, even after the "30 day trial" was up.
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- Rick
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Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with a Propeller Protoboard?
Check out: Introduction to the Proboard & Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card connected? - PropDOS
www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=psp
3.11 is too primitive to use (though it will run on Windows XP). 4.12 is the version I've been using for years.
GIMP looks like it would be a good one to try also.
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- Rick
The build was really straightforward - it took me about 30 mins to build just looking at the photos. I really like the schematics he did, too, as it gives a bit of additional understanding of the project. I haven't programmed for the SX before, but it seems like a pretty cool chip that compares favorably to atmel's lower cost offerings.
Really - this project is a perfect example of using the right tools. Using a battery pack is great, too (so I can install it behind the grill of my Metro). Prop's are great for doing fancy things, SX's are great for doing basic things.
It's also a good example of how a project doesn't have to be complicated. A lot of beginners are happy just getting a light to blink & they don't want an expensive project for their first try. I think the project compares favorably to ladyada's digg kit (runs an ATtiny). I'll take a few pictures and make a video & put it up tonight.
I also did a small project of my own: Kits come pre-programmed, so I needed a programmer for the SX. I made a simple project to connect the SX key to the SX for programming. I just made it for my personal use, but I can't see why I shouldn't share it, so I'll put it up on the site.
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Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
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Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
-Seth
P.S. Would I be correct in guessing that the language used is PHP? And did you code it?
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The pessimist is never disappointed.