Time range for a timer?

Ideas and instructions how you can make your own bondage toys.
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Gregovic
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by Gregovic »

I agree with Riddle, mostly. Personally I'd like to have half hour increments in the "large" setting. For the kind of stuff you are building I would probably never go past 6 hours, but then again I'm also a bit of a wuss. :gag: For exact control I'd like something like 0 to 2 hours in 5 minute increments, though even 10 or 15 minute increments would be fine for me in that timeframe.
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OrgasmAlley
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by OrgasmAlley »

Great information, Gregovic, thanks! And thank you or the compliment, Riddle.
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Sir Cumference
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by Sir Cumference »

Don't be afraid of displays.

The small 2*16 character ones with an I2C backpack are cheap and easy to use with the Arduino.
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by Riddle »

Sir Cumference wrote:Don't be afraid of displays.

The small 2*16 character ones with an I2C backpack are cheap and easy to use with the Arduino.
Do you have an example link? What is the cost of the displays?

My google searches bring up displays for $10 and up.
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OrgasmAlley
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by OrgasmAlley »

No doubt displays are cheap. Two examples:

https://www.banggood.com/1Pc-1602-Chara ... mds=search
https://www.banggood.com/IIC-I2C-1602-B ... mds=search

The standard HD44780 controller ($2.90) takes a stack of pins, while the $4.17 version comes with an I2C backpack. I2C uses two pins. With or without the hardware serial in use (I'm using it for the Bluetooth antenna), I2C through the Wire library is IMO the easiest communication protocol to/from an Arduino. In an ideal world, an LCD interface would also have at least three or four buttons (select, up, down... back optional) and menu navigation. I have such interfaces on a number of my own Arduino-controlled toys. Using a menu system, you really need 4 rows, which brings you to a 2004 I2C at $6.74.

The problem for me comes in mounting such a display professionally and durably into an enclosure. I would be more than happy to get some pointers in doing so if someone has them to give!
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Sir Cumference
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by Sir Cumference »

Those are the prices I have found too.

Compared to the time it saves, I think it is impressively cheap.

In the photo below is a display I mounted in a box for a totally mundane project.

I marked the size of the hole, drilled holes "inside the corners", used a milling machine to cut the hole, then squared the corners with a box cutter.

I simply glue it from the back side with silicone or hot melt glue. It is a bot primitive, but it has never let me down.



I have never found a nice way to mount the combined "display and push buttons". I prefer using toggle switches set in the cabinet.
Attachments
You cant even see the glue, but it is there.
You cant even see the glue, but it is there.
image.jpg
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OrgasmAlley
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by OrgasmAlley »

Thanks for the pics and description... that's similar to what I've done in my persona projects, as well.
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Gregovic
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by Gregovic »

Personally I usually mount my displays below the surface of the project box so the metal bezel of the display is hidden by the box, or if the bezel is going through the box finish it with a trim piece to hide the bezel. If I want to go for ultra neat I use my dads CNC milling machine to mill the hole, then mill a piece of acrylic/polycarbonate so that a section of it falls neatly into the hole and the top is flush with the box. Ultra bonus points for using a material close in color to the box it's mounted in and choosing the display colour such that it easily shines through. (For instance a blue display and a blue piece of lexan in a black box. When the display is off the blue material is so dark it looks nearly black because there is no light coming from below. When the display is on the blue light easily shines through the material and the display is easily readable. I believe special filtered types of material exist for this but I have no idea where to get that)

Unfortunately I don't have any projects on hand to display what I mean.

Another alternative is:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Home-Ma ... -Displays/

If it's for a commercial product, don't even bother rolling your own. Just buy a premade one and be done with it (In fact, even as a hobbyist consider buying one. They cost like 3 bucks a piece). Search for "16x2 lcd display bezel" and take your pick. For example this one
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OrgasmAlley
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by OrgasmAlley »

Thanks for the thoughts... I hadn't realized that commercial bezels were available. I've actually been (sort of) looking for a case with window and mounting nibs for the common displays already incorporated, as that seems like a natural thing to offer. I'm not sold on the usability of the snap-in bezel. The other option appears to be this design:

http://www.widgeneering.com/20x4-lcd-bezel-black.html

The fact is, this all starts to add up, at least for a small manufacturer such as myself trying to keep end-user cost in control... which is the same problem I started with ;)
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Re: Time range for a timer?

Post by Gregovic »

OrgasmAlley wrote:Thanks for the thoughts... I hadn't realized that commercial bezels were available. I've actually been (sort of) looking for a case with window and mounting nibs for the common displays already incorporated, as that seems like a natural thing to offer. I'm not sold on the usability of the snap-in bezel. The other option appears to be this design:

http://www.widgeneering.com/20x4-lcd-bezel-black.html

The fact is, this all starts to add up, at least for a small manufacturer such as myself trying to keep end-user cost in control... which is the same problem I started with ;)
I get that :wink: . You'd think project boxes with integrated display windows would be a thing, but I've never seen them.
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Sir Cumference
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Re: Time range for a timer?

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OrgasmAlley wrote:....

http://www.widgeneering.com/20x4-lcd-bezel-black.html

The fact is, this all starts to add up, at least for a small manufacturer such as myself trying to keep end-user cost in control... which is the same problem I started with ;)

That is a really neat way of doing it!
I have a laser cutting service close to where I live, and should I bring an acrylic plate along with a CAD-file, those would be really cheap to have made.


The other part exemplifies a classic dilemma.
"Should I make it myself, or buy it / have it made for me?"

At work I have that dilemma almost daily, and once you do the math, it almost always end up in:
- if there is a COTS item on the market and multiple suppliers, don't bother.
- if it has few suppliers (=unnecessarily high price and slow delivery), simple to make or would have to be heavily modified anyway, then consider making it in-house. But remember to calculate the value of the time used as well as what that person would not do while making it.
- if it is not on the market and COTS can't do it, then break out the CAD and the hacksaw. (But estimate the price first).

You make niche products, and your time is probably best spend on the specialty items, not on cutting dumb acrylic becels.
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