Company created + new remote layout finished

May 18th, 2010: the date the first Male Management Company was created. Write that on the history books! Or better, on Wikipedia.

We're waiting for official documentation and we will then proceed to open our corporate bank account. With that done we will apply for payment processing. THEN we will finally be able to operate our business.



In the meanwhile, we've finished hand routing the hardest circuit board EVER. The new remote control is so tightly packed with integrated circuits you can't really see what color it is underneath (except for the keys area). And of course automatic routing doesn't work. We're still using 2 layers, but this is the maximum we can pack this way. Any further addition and we'll have to switch to multiple layer boards.

All this circuitry is for charging the battery from the USB port, something that is quite tricky due to the lithium polymer technology, the need to monitor its absorption and temperature, etc.

Today we will check this design to ensure:

- the ground plane is optimal

- components are spaced properly for machine assembly

- no chance for short circuits if tiny manufacturing defects occur

- and more

we know what to look for now and what can go wrong... we hope to submit this to the PCB house by tomorrow and have some prototypes within 1 week.

Comments

By johnsteed at 2010-05-19 08:00:22 Reply

Interestingly, you have independently arrived at the same basic battery situation as the PetSafe dog collar I own. The remote came with a wall-wart charger (used a non-standard plug vs. USB). The collar itself takes a replaceable disposable battery. Technically, a big fat standard camera battery. However, PetSafe encases the standard battery in a plastic housing that maintains a waterproof seal (the battery itself protrudes through the housing and serves as the on/off switch via rotation, if you can believe it), and thus charges quite a bit for them. Gillette model I presume. I've dissected a housing in hopes of being able to use standard batteries. But the unit itself has become flaky often going into a "dead" mode as I've noted.

By dreamloverlabs at 2010-05-19 08:20:11 Reply

So the battery sticks out of the enclosure partially but is still waterproof??

By lance_lake at 2010-05-19 08:55:49 Reply

No. He's saying (I believe if it's the same Pet Mart shock collar that I own) they made a "Bump" in the casing to accommodate the battery. It isn't water proof, but it's water resistant enough to handle the moisture of rain and so on (and for that matter, showers).