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Super Glue Gun & Mini Pinball Kit:   Which One Gets Axed? -- Episode 333

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element14's The Ben Heck Show

Join the Ben Heck team every week for amazing hacks! Watch them build and mod community-inspired projects using electronics!

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Super Glue Gun
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Now that the Super Glue Gun is finished, the Mini Pinball is near completion, and they’ve got a Pi Portable in hand, James Ray returns to the show to talk about product viability. James Ray was on a few months ago to talk about the Hex Board Game.  He works with Avid, a company that is part of Avnet, the parent company of element14, on bringing products to market and evaluating them on their manufacturability.  In today’s episode, they’ll connect over skype to talk about the Super Glue Gun, the Mini Pinball, and the Pi Portable. 

 

 

The conversation with James Ray begins with a Pi Portable analysis.  The Pi Portable is a Raspbery Pi, a screen, and a keyboard that is all driven by the GPIO. To do this there was a lot of hand wiring that was done. The team is thinking that if the all the hand wiring done.  If this could be done as a PCB, you could simply plug it into an existing Pi. James suggests the compute module as an option.  The drawback would be that they would need to add a SODIMM slot and that requires too much space. The other option would be to do a custom Pi. You would basically take all the Pi internals and do a single PCB that would include all your requirements.  James goes over specifics on what Avid can offer them if they go that route. Next they move onto an analysis of the Super Glue Gun and Mini Pinball.  They analyze both builds and decide which one to keep and which one to lose.

What do you think about James Ray's Analysis?

Agree or Disagree? 

If you have any helpful suggestions let us know in the comments below!

 

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  • My take on the three items:

     

    The Super Glue Gun: It was interesting watching the videos and how this was finally completed. I know you learned so much from creating this and that made it successful in its own. As a selling option...I can go to a local craft store and pick up a hot glue gun on sale easily and spend under $5. It is definitely a difficult sale and one with an extremely limited market interest.

     

    The Mini-Pinball Machine: This is something any 80's kid would love to have I believe "IF" the price is right and assembly isn't too complicated. I have watched the videos multiple times to learn something new and the way I watch the whole crew change things up from the initial design makes me feel better when I restart my own projects or re-design something.

     

    The Portable Pi Machine: Let's be honest, this one is a no brainer! I would suggest two different board designs: landscape and portrait models. Some viewers may want this version you created, others prefer the landscape style (ie. GBA, Game Gear, Wii U). If both options could be offered then you may be able to appeal to an even greater audience.

Comment

  • My take on the three items:

     

    The Super Glue Gun: It was interesting watching the videos and how this was finally completed. I know you learned so much from creating this and that made it successful in its own. As a selling option...I can go to a local craft store and pick up a hot glue gun on sale easily and spend under $5. It is definitely a difficult sale and one with an extremely limited market interest.

     

    The Mini-Pinball Machine: This is something any 80's kid would love to have I believe "IF" the price is right and assembly isn't too complicated. I have watched the videos multiple times to learn something new and the way I watch the whole crew change things up from the initial design makes me feel better when I restart my own projects or re-design something.

     

    The Portable Pi Machine: Let's be honest, this one is a no brainer! I would suggest two different board designs: landscape and portrait models. Some viewers may want this version you created, others prefer the landscape style (ie. GBA, Game Gear, Wii U). If both options could be offered then you may be able to appeal to an even greater audience.

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