Simplexity Smart Goods workshop presentation rev3

858-385-7834 (San Diego, CA)360-718-2573 (Vancouver, WA)

www.simplexitypd.com

[email protected]

NSF Workshop on Advanced Manufacturing for Smart GoodsSmart Good Needs: Small Company Perspective

Dorota ShortellMay 14, 2015

Pushing the Limits of Smart Products Design

www.simplexitypd.com2Copyright 2015

Simplexity Overview

• Engineering design company with 2 locations: Vancouver, WA and San Diego CA

• Believe the best solution is the simplest one to accomplish the goal reliably

• Experts in mechatronics, sensor-integrated smart products, and precision motion control

• ~50 employees, listed on over 100 patents

• Mechanical, firmware, electrical, manufacturing and software engineers averaging 20 years’ experience


Goals for this talk

1. What smart goods applications is Simplexity helping customers with today?

2. What are the limitations of current technologies?

3. What is in store for the future in smart goods?


Outline

1. Simplexity Overview & Goals

2. Case Study 1: The Microsoft Band

3. Case Study 2: Bowflex® SelectTech 560 Dumbbells Get Smarter

4. Looking to the Future: From Sensing to Affecting


Case Study 1: The Microsoft Band

What is it?• Wearable device for your wrist

• Full health and exercise tracking

• Syncs to WindowsPhone, Android, and iPhone

• Shows email previews, calendar alerts, incoming calls & texts

• Contains guided workouts, automatic activity counting, run, and bike mapping with built-in GPS

• Tracks sleep: total sleep time, sleep efficiency, wake-ups

Lots of features, not size



Technical Challenges1. Compact size

2. Water and sweat resistance

3. Industrial design

4. Human factors/ Ergonomics

5. Safety

6. Durability


Optical heart rate sensor

3-axis accelerometer

GyroGPS

Ambient light sensor

Skin temperature sensor

UV sensor

Galvanic skin response

Microphone

Haptic vibration motor

DisplayCase Study 1: The Microsoft Band



Manufacturing Advances1. Insert molded Stainless Steel Metal Injection Molding (SS MIMS)

Strict geometric constraints, tight tolerance requirements, and a need for high strength eliminated more traditional forms of manufacturing for a few critical parts

Combining detailed Finite Element Analyses (FEA) with vendor research, SS MIMS process was selected and designed for in order to provide a successful substrate. ABS/PC is then shot onto the substrate to provide more reliable profile accuracy and a TPE-compatible interface

Working with MIMs vendors and clever design, part cost was able to be brought down to acceptable large-scale levels



Manufacturing Advances2. Integrated Flex Circuit

Waterproof, sweatproof, and safety requirements demanded creative solutions for Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) and battery integration

Insert molding directly to the FPC allowed contact potting and gasket sealing with ease of assembly, high positional accuracy, and a flexibility in materials



Manufacturing Advances3. Complex Sheet Metal Substrates

The main band substrate provides a complex yet critical “backbone” to support and locate all other subassemblies of the device

More expensive and fragile techniques have been common among competitive products but using thin, spring-hardened sheet metal allowed for design complexity, excellent feature accuracy, and high strength at a very low cost



Challenges1. Compact size

2. Water and sweat resistance

3. Industrial design

4. Human factors/ Ergonomics

5. Safety

6. Durability

Solutions1. New manufacturing processes, metal instead of

plastic for backbone, FPC and cross-team cooperation

2. FPC insert molding and TPE overmolding for integrated gasket features, sealing of components

3. Compact latching, curved cover over display, many trials with overmolding

4. User studies, market and trial research with cross-team collaboration

5. Creative sealing techniques along with complex battery housing design

6. Sheet metal backbone for strength & flexibility, FEA analyses and testing (drop, pull, twist)



Needs in Technology • Miniaturization of common smart goods components e.g.

accelerometers, gyros, cameras, batteries, etc.

• Advancements in FPC trace density, flexibility, and available components/features

• Display size, shape, and flexibility


Case Study 2: Bowflex® SelectTech560 Dumbbells get smarter

What is it?• An entire rack of dumbbells in one

• Selectively choose how much weight each holds

New features• Tracks sets, reps & weight

• Integrated Bluetooth Low Energy communications

• Syncs and records sets, reps and weight

• SelectTech ® 560 3DT Workout App for iOS and Android


Technical Challenges1. Battery Life

2. Positional Accuracy

Case Study 2: Bowflex® SelectTech 560 Dumbbells get smarter



Technical Solutions1. Battery Life

Use of low power embedded ARM CPU & optimization of CPU power usage.

Minimization of active time for all sensors: weight and accel/gyro

2. Positional Accuracy Auto switching between rotational

and translational exercises. Filtering & continuous calibration for

translational exercises. Note: representative data, not actual

Note: representative data, not actual


Needs in Technology• Low Power Sensors

Power technology moving in the right direction. Sensors still consume significant power: 50% more than CPU (and CPU is oversized for this application due to memory requirements).

• Low cost position measurement system Especially one that works at low frequency. The orientation

problem is adequately solved, but position only works for cyclic motions of sufficient speed.



Looking to the Future: From Sensing to Affecting

• Very limited ability of today’s products to manipulate the real world

• The next wave of smart products need to manipulate their environment based on their sensors

• Key challenges: Low cost & energy efficient manipulators: motors, solenoids, etc.

Manipulator + feedback sensor integration

Energy distribution / energy harvesting

Easy-to-use security

• Majority of “smart products” today are centered on internet connected sensors

• Products great at gathering data from the real world

Simplexity Smart Goods workshop presentation rev3

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