How was developed posture corrector "Asana"
On the Russian fundraising platform Bumstarter, the crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the production of the electronic posture corrector "Asana" ended. It is designed to help keep your back straight and, according to the developers, should form a beautiful posture in 25-30 days. Posture Corrector "Asana" - fully Russian development and production is also expected to be placed in Russia. It was very interesting to meet and ask about the details of the development of the gadget from the founder of the project, Egor Severov. Details and test device under the cut.
The idea of the project was born when I bought myself an electronic posture corrector from another manufacturer for personal use. While working at a computer, you inevitably slouch, but you can't forget about your back. Immediately discovered one significant drawback of this device - it needs to be glued to the body. And in the evening, when you take it off, a red spot remains on the body, which, moreover, itches also. And the size of the device was unreasonably large.
Development began in May 2016. After I listened to the idea of a posture corrector, I immediately thought of the MSP430, which was praised for its very low power consumption. After searching for information about the controllers, the launchpad g2 kit was first purchased for basic reference. In addition to the controller, the device consisted of an accelerometer, a button and a vibration motor. The accelerometer decided to take the MPU6050, tk and was relatively affordable, cheap and have experience with it.
')
Having played with the launchpad g2 using Code Composer Studio, it was necessary to choose the controller that is small enough and at the same time had the I2C bus to communicate with the accelerometer. They became MSP430G2231IPW14R. Also found a small flat vibration motors. Ordered with Ali. Consider that the Chinese, as always, are cheating. According to the description, the thickness is 2 mm, in fact closer to 3.
During the development process there were a lot of problems, mainly related to the power supply and fixing of this very power supply. At first, for the sake of thickness, they wanted to use a CR2016 type battery (20mm diameter, 1.6 thickness). It turned out that mounting on a board for this type of battery is almost impossible to find in stock. In addition, she had a very small impulse current, after which it slowly recovered. Well, the vibration was weak. From 2032 it was easier, there were SMD mounts, and the battery itself is more accessible.
After examining the capabilities of the controller, the following program operation plan arose: we put 2 interrupters, one works 2 times per second, the other is hung up on the button. thus, we got rid of the main cycle and we have a relatively small consumption of a maximum of 200 uA in active mode. Naturally, the vibration eats a lot.
According to the development of the board, the difficulty was only in that it all fit on the board, as close as possible to the size of this very battery. Having picked up the stable minimum binding for the accelerometer and controller from the 4th time, the board turned out to be 21.5 mm in diameter.
The boards were ordered from us in Zelenograd - they are done quickly, efficiently and inexpensively, so we can almost say that there were almost no problems with the manufacture of boards.
How did you design and build a case for test versions? What will be the body in the series?
For the development of the 3d model of the case, we attracted a freelancer from Belarus.
In total, there were about 15 alterations - reworked the shape, thickness, diameter and type of fastening of the case.
At first, the idea was to make an anodized aluminum casing, but this idea was quickly abandoned - it turned out to be too difficult and expensive.
Accuracy was needed as high as possible, so the prototypes were printed on a polyamide 3D printer using an EOS Formiga P100 machine. One prototype case cost about 350 rubles.
In mass production, the case will be made of ABS plastic and covered with Soft-touch coating.
There are two modes, active, i.e. vibration, and sleep mode. The microcontroller is configured with two interrupters - a button and a timer. With one short press of a button it wakes up and fixes the zero position, by long pressing it turns off. In the active mode, the angle is read by the timer 2 times per second, and if, on average, the difference between the reference and the current is greater than a certain value, then once every 2 minutes a vibration is triggered.
In order to raise funds for the start of production, it was decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Bumstarter. We are not against attracting investors, but we wanted to take the first step ourselves.
I know two analogues that are sold on the market - one was developed in Russia 5 years ago, called the Master of Posture, the other one was launched not so long ago in the USA. Compared to the Master of Posture, Asana has several advantages, namely:
- The size. Asana is two times less than master posture;
- The quality of plastic. The master of posture is simply naked ABS, but we will make Asana pleasant to the touch;
- And most importantly, at least for me. The master of posture is glued to the body with a sticker, like a double scotch, and firstly, in the evening, when you take it off, a red spot remains on the body, which itches and itches, terribly unpleasant.
And secondly, 30 stickers are included. What to do next is not entirely clear. It seems like you can order a set of stickers from them separately, but the inconvenience is obvious. Looking for "consumables."
We decided to fix the asana with a magnetic clip on the clothes. As I learned later, the American posture corrector is also attached in the same way.
Yes, the device does not fit close to the body, but the vibration is already felt enough to understand that you are stooping and it's time to straighten up.
American posture corrector is a worthy thing, but, in my opinion, painfully expensive - $ 100 is somehow too much. We are still planning to set a retail price of 4000 rubles.
We plan to release in the first batch the necessary number of devices for sponsors from Boomstarter, a couple of hundred devices for subsequent sale through our online store and, in addition, we have already started receiving bids for wholesale lots with which we are currently negotiating.
After testing the device, I had double feelings, on the one hand, a necessary and useful thing, on the other hand, I know for sure that I could not wear it for several weeks in a row.
The amount of 4.000 rubles. for a relatively simple electronic device it can be slightly overestimated; on the other hand, one consultation with a doctor can cost so much. Everyone decides for himself, however, a huge market for this device clearly appears due to the typical lifestyle of modern children.
How did you get the idea to develop this gadget?
The idea of the project was born when I bought myself an electronic posture corrector from another manufacturer for personal use. While working at a computer, you inevitably slouch, but you can't forget about your back. Immediately discovered one significant drawback of this device - it needs to be glued to the body. And in the evening, when you take it off, a red spot remains on the body, which, moreover, itches also. And the size of the device was unreasonably large.
How did you choose the iron? Where are the boards ordered?
Development began in May 2016. After I listened to the idea of a posture corrector, I immediately thought of the MSP430, which was praised for its very low power consumption. After searching for information about the controllers, the launchpad g2 kit was first purchased for basic reference. In addition to the controller, the device consisted of an accelerometer, a button and a vibration motor. The accelerometer decided to take the MPU6050, tk and was relatively affordable, cheap and have experience with it.
')
Having played with the launchpad g2 using Code Composer Studio, it was necessary to choose the controller that is small enough and at the same time had the I2C bus to communicate with the accelerometer. They became MSP430G2231IPW14R. Also found a small flat vibration motors. Ordered with Ali. Consider that the Chinese, as always, are cheating. According to the description, the thickness is 2 mm, in fact closer to 3.
During the development process there were a lot of problems, mainly related to the power supply and fixing of this very power supply. At first, for the sake of thickness, they wanted to use a CR2016 type battery (20mm diameter, 1.6 thickness). It turned out that mounting on a board for this type of battery is almost impossible to find in stock. In addition, she had a very small impulse current, after which it slowly recovered. Well, the vibration was weak. From 2032 it was easier, there were SMD mounts, and the battery itself is more accessible.
After examining the capabilities of the controller, the following program operation plan arose: we put 2 interrupters, one works 2 times per second, the other is hung up on the button. thus, we got rid of the main cycle and we have a relatively small consumption of a maximum of 200 uA in active mode. Naturally, the vibration eats a lot.
According to the development of the board, the difficulty was only in that it all fit on the board, as close as possible to the size of this very battery. Having picked up the stable minimum binding for the accelerometer and controller from the 4th time, the board turned out to be 21.5 mm in diameter.
The boards were ordered from us in Zelenograd - they are done quickly, efficiently and inexpensively, so we can almost say that there were almost no problems with the manufacture of boards.
How did you design and build a case for test versions? What will be the body in the series?
For the development of the 3d model of the case, we attracted a freelancer from Belarus.
In total, there were about 15 alterations - reworked the shape, thickness, diameter and type of fastening of the case.
At first, the idea was to make an anodized aluminum casing, but this idea was quickly abandoned - it turned out to be too difficult and expensive.
Accuracy was needed as high as possible, so the prototypes were printed on a polyamide 3D printer using an EOS Formiga P100 machine. One prototype case cost about 350 rubles.
In mass production, the case will be made of ABS plastic and covered with Soft-touch coating.
What is the algorithm of the device?
There are two modes, active, i.e. vibration, and sleep mode. The microcontroller is configured with two interrupters - a button and a timer. With one short press of a button it wakes up and fixes the zero position, by long pressing it turns off. In the active mode, the angle is read by the timer 2 times per second, and if, on average, the difference between the reference and the current is greater than a certain value, then once every 2 minutes a vibration is triggered.
Why did you decide to develop the project as a crowdfunding one?
In order to raise funds for the start of production, it was decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Bumstarter. We are not against attracting investors, but we wanted to take the first step ourselves.
What analogs exist? How is your gadget better?
I know two analogues that are sold on the market - one was developed in Russia 5 years ago, called the Master of Posture, the other one was launched not so long ago in the USA. Compared to the Master of Posture, Asana has several advantages, namely:
- The size. Asana is two times less than master posture;
- The quality of plastic. The master of posture is simply naked ABS, but we will make Asana pleasant to the touch;
- And most importantly, at least for me. The master of posture is glued to the body with a sticker, like a double scotch, and firstly, in the evening, when you take it off, a red spot remains on the body, which itches and itches, terribly unpleasant.
And secondly, 30 stickers are included. What to do next is not entirely clear. It seems like you can order a set of stickers from them separately, but the inconvenience is obvious. Looking for "consumables."
We decided to fix the asana with a magnetic clip on the clothes. As I learned later, the American posture corrector is also attached in the same way.
Yes, the device does not fit close to the body, but the vibration is already felt enough to understand that you are stooping and it's time to straighten up.
American posture corrector is a worthy thing, but, in my opinion, painfully expensive - $ 100 is somehow too much. We are still planning to set a retail price of 4000 rubles.
How much do you plan to release?
We plan to release in the first batch the necessary number of devices for sponsors from Boomstarter, a couple of hundred devices for subsequent sale through our online store and, in addition, we have already started receiving bids for wholesale lots with which we are currently negotiating.
After testing the device, I had double feelings, on the one hand, a necessary and useful thing, on the other hand, I know for sure that I could not wear it for several weeks in a row.
The amount of 4.000 rubles. for a relatively simple electronic device it can be slightly overestimated; on the other hand, one consultation with a doctor can cost so much. Everyone decides for himself, however, a huge market for this device clearly appears due to the typical lifestyle of modern children.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/398499/
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