Binary watch, I decided to jump on the kickstarter bandwagon

[williefleete]

I thought I would give this a go, I am probably underestimating the goal I've set and I'm pretty new to this but here is the link for my kickstarter project https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2077534955/binary-watch
Any tips and feedback welcome, any pledges also welcome. This project will probably be classed as open source as I will make any design files available along with the code after the project is done.

[Mr.B]

I don't want to come across negative, but at $25 per watch you will have great difficulty competing against something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Red-Blue-LED-Binary-Black-White-Leather-Silicone-Band-Watch-889-Boy-Girl-Men-/181293915688?pt=Wristwatches&var=&hash=item2a35f59e28
For only NZD 6.22 including shipping...

Good luck anyway.

[williefleete]

I think mine has a few extra features, seconds display, displays 24 hour, has an hourly alarm (a monophonic rendition of Westminster chimes (first 4 notes in low power mode) and bell counting the hour (12 hour form) no less) and main alarm, date with year and leap year calculation.

[miguelvp]

Binary watches have been around for a while and the selection is huge:

http://www.google.com/search?q=binary+watch&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ

[williefleete]

Binary watches have been around for a while and the selection is huge:

http://www.google.com/search?q=binary+watch&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ

so I guess I shouldn't be surprised if I don't get funded 

[hlokk]

Feels like you may need to do a bit more work before people are likely to be interested IMO. I don't see any watch concepts at all, or have any indication what the case may look like, whether you are able to design and manufacture a SMT board and assemble it. The prototype may work fine, but looks really messy and I wonder if the LED's are placeholders or intended to be used on the final project (those blue ones would annoy me).

The key questions for any new project are pretty much "What is already out there, has this been done beore" "What does mine do that other don't"  "Are these features desirable enough to account for a price differential" and "is there a sufficiently large market".

For kickstarter, as a potential backer of a project I always want to know "is there a final concept of what it will look like" and "am I paying to get this manufactured, or am I paying for someone to play around with it and maybe deliver something I'll like" and of course "Does this person actually have much experience and understanding with actual manufacturing".

Is there some reason you're not able to produce a wrist prototype first?


(I hope this comes across as constructive not scathing!)

[williefleete]

Feels like you may need to do a bit more work before people are likely to be interested IMO. I don't see any watch concepts at all, or have any indication what the case may look like, whether you are able to design and manufacture a SMT board and assemble it. The prototype may work fine, but looks really messy and I wonder if the LED's are placeholders or intended to be used on the final project (those blue ones would annoy me).

The key questions for any new project are pretty much "What is already out there, has this been done beore" "What does mine do that other don't"  "Are these features desirable enough to account for a price differential" and "is there a sufficiently large market".

For kickstarter, as a potential backer of a project I always want to know "is there a final concept of what it will look like" and "am I paying to get this manufactured, or am I paying for someone to play around with it and maybe deliver something I'll like" and of course "Does this person actually have much experience and understanding with actual manufacturing".

Is there some reason you're not able to produce a wrist prototype first?


(I hope this comes across as constructive not scathing!)

the picture is a very early prototype hence the mess, sort of a proof of concept type thing that electrically works only with through hole parts and veroboard hence the jiffy box is a bit cramped, the LEDs are placeholders and would turn off after 2 minutes anyway to save battery

Is there some reason you're not able to produce a wrist prototype first?

I dont have the facilities to produce custom casing or anything else for that matter
the early one does go on the wrist, however it is bulky, most of it (casing and unpopulated PCB) will probably be done elsewhere, and then assembled

"Does this person actually have much experience and understanding with actual manufacturing".

TBH no

whether you are able to design and manufacture a SMT board and assemble it

I have a reasonable idea of laying out PCB's (thank the EEVblog for that) it will be mostly non-critical stuff, maybe bypassing at most. however finding and using software that makes the appropriate files for the board house and manufacturing them will be another story

TL;DR im a complete noob

[tjb1]

Big box of a watch...nice, another Kickstarter with nothing done and expects funding.  There are many 3D printing services available now that could easily knock a case out and PCBs are almost free but from the way you speak, I am guessing you have not the faintest clue of how to design the case.

[williefleete]

Big box of a watch

its called the functional prototype , (relatively) big box with full size through hole parts in it

another Kickstarter with nothing done and expects funding

why do you think im trying to get funded, I dont have the money to get s*** done

There are many 3D printing services available now that could easily knock a case out and PCBs are almost free

give us a link to the 3D printing service you speak of. if they'll do bulk, even better

but from the way you speak, I am guessing you have not the faintest clue of how to design the case.

thats not very nice, are you offering to help design one for me then 

[sunnyhighway]

The major problem is that this is a fashion product.

I'm trying to make an analogy by describing the issue, using a jacket instead of a watch.
It would have been something along the line of this:

Description on Kickstarter: Jacket with buttons and pockets.
Images shown on Kickstarter: Early prototype using a mailbag, two pockets and some buttons, nothing else.

Would you buy it with that description and those pictures?
I know I wouldn't.


EDIT:
Uhm, I guess this is not the best analogy.
Apparently you CAN be successful with a mailbag as a jacket, if your name is Jan Taminiau.
He managed to design a jacket just like that for queen Maxima.

[EEVblog]

give us a link to the 3D printing service you speak of. if they'll do bulk, even better

Before 3D printers came along, this site and it's free CAD program were the ducks guts:
http://www.emachineshop.com/
It's still the easiest CAD I've ever used to create 3D models, and it exports STEP etc.
Still great for machined parts.

I'm a dunce at 3D CAD and I was able to do my uWatch cases no problem

[williefleete]

had a little play with sketchup, probably not the best but i'd like to make it to use standard watch straps

[tjb1]

Big box of a watch

its called the functional prototype , (relatively) big box with full size through hole parts in it

another Kickstarter with nothing done and expects funding

why do you think im trying to get funded, I dont have the money to get s*** done

There are many 3D printing services available now that could easily knock a case out and PCBs are almost free

give us a link to the 3D printing service you speak of. if they'll do bulk, even better

but from the way you speak, I am guessing you have not the faintest clue of how to design the case.

thats not very nice, are you offering to help design one for me then 

This is your project, not mine.  They exist, find one.  You would have much better luck going on to Kickstarter with a real prototype instead of everything stuffed into a box that is no where near what it will be when completed.

You would use a 3D printed case as a prototype and then if you sell a large amount, you would injection mold the others.

http://www.protolabs.com/

[edavid]

There are some existing products out there, but as far as I can tell they are all crappy, so that shouldn't discourage you.  You do need to explain why your watch will be better than a $5 eBay watch.

However, as others have said, your presentation is terrible.  You need clear photos of whatever you have, and clear explanations of what you have done and what you are doing.  Forget the videos for now.

Right at the top, you need to say how the display will work, what the case and strap will be made of, and how long the battery will last.

[williefleete]

I think you have vastly underestimated the expense and difficulty of what you want to do. Making a commercial quality watch for $1500 is... optimistic. Presumably you intend to work for free too, and provide after-sales support etc. at your own expense?

I was expecting someone to say that

[Rufus]

Binary watches have been around for a while and the selection is huge:

http://www.google.com/search?q=binary+watch&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ

And have you ever seen anyone wearing one of those pet rocks?

[miguelvp]

Binary watches have been around for a while and the selection is huge:

http://www.google.com/search?q=binary+watch&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ

And have you ever seen anyone wearing one of those pet rocks?

Yes, but I'm surrounded by geeks and nerds

[pickle9000]

Everyone tries to make beautiful stuff why not try something like this? Dip in clear epoxy for a case.

http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2013/03/27/diy-binary-watch-wearablewednesday/

[free_electron]

why a binary watch ? we have invented the 7447 and 7 segment displays a long time ago ( a 741247 even polishes the 6 and the 9 )..
come to think of it. sod 7 segment display. use e-paper or e-ink displays. and make em color , and wifi and ble and build in a gsm and gps ! and and a fax !

reminds me of a joke.
Bill Gates, Larry ellison and Steve jobs were in a meeting room. all of a sudden gates starts talking to his watch. The others look at him bewildered.
Gates explains : latest microsoft gizmo : watch with built in gsm.
Some time later Jobs pits his index finger in his ear and just mumbles to himself.
GSM . Speaker glued to his fingernail , microphone built in to a tooth filling.
time passes and Ellison suddenly blows a loud fart.. Sorry guys, fax coming in....

[pickle9000]

Awesome joke!

[PlainName]

Seems world+dog do binary LED watches, and they all suffer the same problem as any other LED watch: the LEDs.

Why not do something different (continent+cat do these) and make an LCD binary watch? Then you don't have to manually drain the battery to check the time - you can look at it and see what the time is without pressing anything. OK, add a small low power LED for night viewing, but otherwise it is less hassle and worry for the user.

More pertinently, it cries out for crowdfunding, where the LED one doesn't, because you will need to source the LCD, and that is only going to be possible with a decent MOQ (which will be expensive for you to fund on your own).

[williefleete]

Seems world+dog do binary LED watches, and they all suffer the same problem as any other LED watch: the LEDs.

Why not do something different (continent+cat do these) and make an LCD binary watch? Then you don't have to manually drain the battery to check the time - you can look at it and see what the time is without pressing anything. OK, add a small low power LED for night viewing, but otherwise it is less hassle and worry for the user.

More pertinently, it cries out for crowdfunding, where the LED one doesn't, because you will need to source the LCD, and that is only going to be possible with a decent MOQ (which will be expensive for you to fund on your own).

That is an idea, can you get bar-graph style LCD modules (3x8 bar graph), either raw LCD or chip on glass / ribbon, with something similar to a shift register for data input eg data, clock, strobe type of thing

[hlokk]

its called the functional prototype , (relatively) big box with full size through hole parts in it

Well, not really as your kickstarter is for a watch and that is a clock. Being able to program up a binary clock program on a PIC is not that hard. We know you can do that part, but what about all the other parts. We have no idea if you know what you're doing at all for product design, manufacturing and supply at the minimum. How can you price it up when you don't know what the case will look like, what you'll make it from or how much it will look like?

why do you think im trying to get funded, I dont have the money to get s*** done

You can't really expect kickstarter backers to fund a hobby project though. Kickstarter is for when you have a working project, know how to complete it and deliver it but need a large amount of cash in order to get the ball rolling on larger scale manufacturing (e.g. making injection molds). You're going to have to sink your own money into some development costs in order to prove you can do it.

TL;DR im a complete noob

Then maybe this isn't the project for a kickstarter


Don't get me wrong, it sounds like a cool little project, but its an amateur hobby project at the moment (which is awesome, I have lots going ).

[PlainName]

can you get bar-graph style LCD modules (3x8 bar graph)

Doubt it (at least, not in a suitable size or shape), but the point is that you would commission your own. Don't know what the MOQ is, but I think it can be surprisingly low.

[williefleete]

Because of the negativity I've been getting here I am going to can the project...
It seems kickstarter is no place for my project