General > General Technical Chat
Single person full product design
bookaboo:
--- Quote from: m98 on July 11, 2023, 11:57:13 am ---
--- Quote from: bookaboo on July 11, 2023, 09:42:14 am ---Plenty of competition at the high end already https://seesense.cc/
--- End quote ---
Just looked at their demo video, those things blink and flash like crazy. The bad light pattern is stupidly compensated by higher luminosity. That would be a great example of how not to design bike lights. State of the art can be found here: https://www.bumm.de/en/
As you can see with Busch + Müller, optics and especially the reflector design are key to a great bike light. This could either be done using commercial optics design software ($$$), or a lot of patience, the parametric surface modeling software of your choice, and a raytracer like Blender.
--- End quote ---
Was just the first example that came to mind as they are based not far from me, I wouldn't know which end of a bike points forward as I prefer running :)
e100:
I thought I would add some more context to my question.
My theory is that consumer lights are purposely designed to fail after a year or two, so you have to buy a new one on a regular cycle.
My goal is to make something that isn't plagued by obvious design flaws.
For example, the normal way to cover an unused electrical port on a normal bit of outdoor electrical gear is to have a screw cap and O ring seal that looks something like this
https://www.newark.com/productimages/standard/en_US/5064788.jpg
Rechargeable bike lights don't use this obvious solution. Instead they use this
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A silicone rubber bung and weak lanyard that is engineered to fail after 18 months. Once the bung is lost water gets in and the light fails within a few days.
Another example, the 18650 lipo cells commonly used in bike lights have a usable life of about 2 years but few lights are designed with replaceability in mind. The manufacturer wants you to throw the light in the garbage and buy a new one. I had to follow this tortuous tutorial to replace a battery in a light which is actually one of the better ones available.
And then there are the issues of the inappropriate beam patterns, problems blinding oncoming drivers, flashing modes that make no sense and so many usability issues tied up with a single button interface that is trying to do everything demanded by the marketing department. It's just a mess.
CatalinaWOW:
There is no simple answer to this. At one level the answer is no. No individual will be able to manufacture lamps, batteries and the other components of even a relatively simple device like a bike light. On the other hand I have no doubt that an individual can design and build a bike lite that is superior by many metrics to most of not all such devices on the market. But it will require quite some time, and intense learning in areas new to the individual. And I unless the individual is unusually well off financially will be unable to develop tooling and other necessities to make the result price competitive.
Microdoser:
Well, you've picked a cheap product that has to work reliably in a very unforgiving environment. On top of that, it's a market that has a high saturation with plenty of alternatives. Also, it is really hard for a new brand to sell reliability and trustworthiness. New startups are better off selling innovation and unique solutions.
Personally, if I wanted to make and sell a product all by myself, I would look for a problem with no readily available solution, ideally one I have experience of, in an underrepresented market. Sometimes it's an unavailable interface between this and that, sometimes it's a new and better way of doing something, sometimes there is hardly anyone making a thing. Whatever, you should find a niche in the marketplace where a fresh product has a chance. Ideally, one where you can charge a reasonable price per unit, so it's worth your time. Incremental advances on existing products are a dead end for a new startup.
Back to the question of if it's possible, though. Yes, you can design circuits on paper. You can get free PCB design software and make your Gerbers. You can get small boards delivered for £10. You can solder them by hand. You can get a free 3D CAD program and make a Step or 3MF file, so you can 3D print enclosures at home. If you want something mass-produced and made by other people, then first get £100,000 in funding.
So while it's completely possible to be a 1-man band these days and get something out there that might get you some funds to do things properly. I would pick a different product, though. You said it yourself, "The manufacturer wants you to throw the light in the garbage and buy a new one" and for the average consumer, that is what they expect. They would rather spend 50% on a light they have to replace every year than 100% on one that will last 5 years. The manufacturers know it too.
SiliconWizard:
If the product is not too complex, of course you can.
But if you are alone *and* are able to complete the product design and manufacturing all by yourself, chances are that you won't be as good with the marketing side of things, and a product is not worth much if you can't sell it. Just a thought.
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