module?
This week has been extremely busy and I definitely need a day of rest and spend some quality time with my family after all those long nights. Quite a lot of things are coming together:
- As you can see I have collected quite a few different housing styles over the last couple of weeks. This will be helpful in designing the package. The top photo shows the top and bottom of each of the housing types.
To give you an idea of what the size of the boards is in comparison, take a look at this photo:
The first prototype board is on the left, the new PCB design is on the right (in paper form). - The new PCB design went out today for manufacturing. Looking back at the design process, I ask myself: "Wow, how did I manage to stuff all those parts in such a tiny area, including a full dock connector!" And guess what, I even managed to connect 3.3V power from the iPhone/iTouch and the L/R audio out through. I guess thinking about PCBs during my commute to work paid off. Whether this design will make it, is ultimately dependent on the performance of the chip antenna, so let's hope for the best. In the meantime, I will be working on a patch antenna backup solution in case the performance would be lacking.
- The majority of the new PCB parts has also arrived this week.
- This new PCB design also has a few "light(n)ing" options since some people have posted in the comments that they were concerned about a bright flashing LED when the module has a GPS lock. They'd rather see this reversed: flashing when searching for a lock and steady on when a lock is found. I will post a poll at some point later to see what configuration is most favorite and what LED colors you prefer. The new design will be able to accommodate for quite a few options.
- We also hit 750 votes today! And that only 11 days after we hit 500 votes. I think some people posted this website on their own blogs which is a great thing! So if you have your own blog or want to spread the word, feel free to do some advertising :)
Well, time to catch up on some sleep now... Gd'Night.
7 comments:
As simple as possible please; and in black. In regards to the flashing LED - I think the commenters are right - it sort of makes more sense to have it flash whilst searching (also probably safer whilst passing through train stations, airports...).
i have build a findme replacement that will output the real gps location. You can have a try.
http://tinyurl.com/4jeua3
and for those interest can feel free to give comment here.
http://tinyurl.com/3s9wlj
I second Alex: simple and black, to not ruin the ancestor style - and, well, to keep the gadget affordable.
Please give some additional attention to mechanical strength between two dense connectors, since your device will mainly be used in cars and other vehicles. Maybe you even consider windshield holder formfactor instead of (or along with) this tiny plug-style enclosure!
About the LED. It'll certainly be distracting if flashing constantly, so in order to conserve the battery you could implement rare flashes (20 or more seconds interval, like carrier indicator of cellphones) or even LED off (like on Apple monitors while dispaying) since the software is visibly doing its job.
BTW, did you estimate the end-user cost already? I'm trying to distinguish now, should I wait for your creation, or should I buy a serial dongle and start soldering the cable.
This is good for iphone user, even though I have created the gps cable to resell, I think this is still a very great project.
If you have any interest to sell this device in HK and china , please contact me.
Dear Billy,
If you do have a holux gps device, I can send you a gps cable to you free ( well , you have to pay the postage anyway ^_^ )
it is look like this http://tinyurl.com/5pgmeu
You are kicking butt, man. This is really fantastic stuff.
Chris_Chan: This looks like you've got this Holux GPS device working with just a cable; is that accurate?
Can you email me about which GPS device it is, what other devices it works with, etc.? Thanks. You can email me at starkruzr at gmail dot com.
j d,
yes , with the cable and the holux , it can use as the development for the iphone gps. It would be interest if more program is built for iphonn gps , as without the software , only hardware itself is meaningless.
currently working holux device is Holux M1000b, M1200,M236 . for more information simba has written a blog. http://tinyurl.com/3e7lu5
Cobra GPSM 7700 Technology Fujifilm Finepix J38 Canon s90is Sony BDP-N460 Canon SD940IS Axion AXN-8905 Samsung UN55B8500
Shopping Online Flash GamesCheap LCD TVs Samsung UN55B8500 Garmin Oregon 550 Olympus FE-46 Olympus Stylus 7010
Cheap Garmin GPS
Cheap IPOD Classic
Cheap IPOD Classuc Accessories
Cheap IPod Deals
Cheap IPod Nano
IPod Deals
IPod Touch Accessories
Sony PSP
Technology
ดาวโหลดโปรแกรม
Cheap Digital Cameras
Cheap Eyeglasses
Cheap IPOD
Cheap LCD TVs
Samsung Ln40B650
Shopping Online
Toshiba 47ZV650U
Post a Comment