In the last episode, I was looking for robustness.

We left on a beautiful image of our future Pioupiou:

I received emails saying “cool, the new Pioupiou is finished! ". Uh, no… Not really actually. There, it was just an assembly made with glue and rubber bands to show you the approximate shape I had in mind.

Besides, it's true that she has changed her form a lot in the last few months… I've experimented a lot and I've learned a lot.

Today, I declare that the research work is finished. We have the almost final design, which seems satisfactory on all points.

Make way for production!

The new challenge is now to manufacture the body.

I had hesitated between injected plastic and 3D printing. Final verdict: injection. The molds will cost around €15 in total, but that will allow you to have a truly “professional” product. Appearance counts, even for a Pioupiou perched on top of a post.

I haven't chosen the exact material yet. My hours of googling give me the impression that we could use an ABS-Polycarbonate alloy. It is " easy » to be molded like ABS, while having the resistance of polycarbonate. In addition, the ABS + PC mix holds up better to UVs than ABS or PC alone. If you have any advice, I'll take it.

So I started drawing the parts, taking into account all the constraints related to injection molding (draft, thickness control, etc.)

There are also all the constraints related to “how do I fit everything in there? ". That's no small feat either. It is necessary to draw the casing and the electronic card at the same time, so that the two coincide.

But before getting to that, there are a lot of small details to solve…

« Oh shit, the GPS antenna is polarized − the manufacturer says you have to put it facing the sky…

Ah yes, but I can't, because the card must be vertical − because of the battery connectors…

Or else, you would have to change the direction of opening of the case − but suddenly it bothers the axis of the vane...

Alright, so we'll have to test...

(Ordering items + waiting for delivery for 3 days)

Oh well, it works! Of course: we are outdoors. So it picks up well, even with a badly oriented antenna. »

You understand, it takes a little time. I thought I could finish this this week, but a priori we will have to get back to it on Monday 🙂

If I do well, next week I can order the first “true material” copies to validate the shape before making the moulds.

Ad of the week:

If you want a tuning computer because the screen hinge comes off after a few months, it's easy: buy a Lenovo IdeaPad.