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Appreciating Sinclair and Shrinking down Tech'

cstanton

This BBC spotlight/documentary caught my attention recently, from the manufacturing processes to the technology that Sinclair created in the earlier years of their products.

It's no surprise that some of the products mentioned go for, frankly, crazy prices online.

Though I was also distracted thinking "what if I wanted to create something like this?"

image

While we may be able to create prototype electronics from the home of the internals, the enclosure of something so small may be trickier. Unless you have perhaps a resin 3D printer, I haven't seen many people create something like this from say, small-scale, thin sheet metal(s).

Perhaps there's still some way to go for homemade fabrication? Especially when it comes to enclosures.

How do you handle enclosure design?

  • in reply to Jan Cumps

    Not always...

    I regularly see an older gent on a recumbent trike (with flag pole) on a main road here sucking up those exhaust fumes. I've even seen youngsters on electric ride-ons using the main roads to get to friends houses instead of pedal bicycles.

    Cyclists in dark clothing without lights or audible warning device on main roads are common place and I don't see much in the way of weatherproofing there. Higher ride position but still invisible in many situations (as is a car or motorcycle behind a HGV for that matter). As for road stability well, I wish I had some dashcam footage of some recent encounters with two-wheelers lately to share with you... 

    The C5 perhaps wasn't as low as people think. I recall a demonstration of it showing rider height above that of some popular cars at the time. Cars have got a lot bigger these days however.

    At the time I thought the C5 was an accident waiting to happen, however perhaps it was more a case of the wrong place at the wrong time. When launched originally, it was around the time of new technology parks and promises of new car-free towns and electric vehicles. 

    A scooter wasn't particularly cool in the 80's yet add an electric motor and some Li-Ion batteries and  they appear to be all the rage today even though being used illegally and dangerously most of the time.

    Given fuel prices, insurance costs and endless traffic jams due to roadworks these days, and the turning of a blind eye to illegal use of new 'green transport' that can jump between pavement, road, cycle path, then it wouldn't surprise me if we see another attempt at something similar in the near future.