Building the FLipmouse

This page describes the building process how to build your own FLipMouse. We strongly recommend to use our Construction Manual, simply because it has very nice illustrations.

If you use this manual, please read the errata file BEFORE starting, because it contains all additional information which is not contained in the pdf file yet:

Errata-ConstructionManual

This wiki page is a textual description of the content of the construction manual.

Part 1: the acrylic case

The main case consists of 8 glued parts and 2 covers. The covers (bottom and front) are NOT glued.

To ensure a clean workflow, please arrange the acrylic parts in the correct position. The acrylic glue is usually not very handy, so preparing the parts will save your day.

Please take care of any stains of the acrylic glue, they can't be removed from acrylic glass.

Procedure:

1. Find the top part, which contains the letters 'A', 'T', 'R' and 'C' on the upper edge and 'A', 'a', 'e' and 'y'. In addition, 3 round holes are located on this part
2. Find the side parts. One part contains the letters 's', 'e', 'I' and 'S', the other one 'c', 'd' and 'm'
3. Put this 3 parts together, that you can read (NOT mirrored) the text "AsTeRICS Academy" on the upper and lower joint.
4. Add the back part. There is only one way that this part fits. Hint: the text "USB" is mirrored.
5. Do a dry test, putting the parts together.
6. Apply glue on all joints. These are:

• Two long edges: two times side part to top part
• One short edge: back to top part
• Two extra joints: side to back part (you have to apply glue on both parts)

7. Move the side parts to their 90° position
8. Align the back part properly
9. Use the top cover to ensure everything fits. Attention: Do NOT glue the cover parts!
10. Wait at least 30min, than remove the unglued cover. ..........
11. Apply glue on one of the remaining small parts and place it in the correct position:

• Roundly shaped parts: Front, mounted on the outside (corresponding to the front cover)
• Trapezoidal ones: Bottom, mounted inside (corresponding to the remaining bottom cover)

12. Repeat step 11, until all four parts are mounted
13. Wait again at least 1h. More is better, since the first assemble of the PCB in the case requires at little of force.

Sensor carrier

PCB (mainboard)

** TBD, not tested from here... **

• Use the BOM (bill of material) to reference the part names on the PCB to the real parts
• Due to the stacking of some parts, please solder C2 (capacitor), AUX (5x2 pin header) and I2C (2x1 pin header) at the beginning. Otherwise it is not possible to solder these parts (their pins will be hidden under the Teensy)
• The last part should be SG1 (piezo buzzer), the buzzer is located over a few parts
• Solder all parts with the minimum distance to the PCB!
• The long push button is S2
• The Teensy is soldered on the BOTTOM
• After soldering the Teensy, please clip the pins on the TOP to the shortest possible length.It will be easier to solder U$2 (pressure sensor)
• The colored LEDs (LED1, LED2, LED3) have to be bent in a right angle. These LEDs should fit into the bottom case part.
• The IR LED (LED5) can be bent to 90 degrees. This depends on the direction, which the LED should point to.

PCB (daughterboard)

1. Attach all 4 screws to the acrylic part. The screw head should be on the engraved side (4 circles are engraved, as markers for the FSR sensors)
2. The daughterboard should be on the opposite side. Try to put the PCB on the 4 screws. The 8 landing pads should be visible.
3. If it is possible to press the PCB and the acrylic part together, it's time to glue: remove the PCB, apply the rapid glue (just a little bit, the 4 screws SHOULD NOT be glued) and press the PCB/acrylic part together
4. Wait.... Until the glue is hardened
5. Try one FSR sensor: There is the possibility to put the FSR sensors in the wrong direction. Ensure, that the upper side of the FSR is visible on the acrylic part (the upper side is NOT black). Feed the contacts to the other side, using the similar cuts in the PCB and the acrylic part. The pins HAVE to be soldered directly on the opposite side. If the landing pads match the 2 pins, the sensor is positioned correctly. If the pins and the landing pads are 90 degrees turned, then turn the FSR sensor 180degrees.
6. Apply the 2side adhesive tape on the engraved circles.
7. Put all 4 FSR sensors to the adhesive tape. Careful: the tape is very sticky, try to put the round sensor part in the middle of the engraved circuit.
8. Feed all 4 sensor terminals through the PCB/acrylic cuts to the PCB side.
9. Solder the 8 pins to the corresponding landing pads. ATTENTION: the terminal lugs of the FSR sensors are made of plastic. It is not wise to heat them with the solder iron... Use tweezers to move the pins to the corresponding landing pads.
10. Last step: Solder the female connector (5x1) to the PCB. It won't be possible to solder it as close as possible. This is caused by the acrylic on the other side. The connector must be soldered on the TOP side.

To ensure a high durability of the adhesive tape, mount as soon as possible the corresponding acrylic plate with the rubber pads (see following section).

Case

If it is available, the best solution is a glue dedicated for acrylic glass (e.g.: Evonik Acrifix). Please build the sensor carrier module in one step. There is enough time afterwards to make a break!

The sensor carrier module

At this point, you should have an assembled FSR carrier, consisting of following parts:

• Acrylic part (with 4 nibs)
• Female connector
• 4 FSR sensors

In addition, a part is needed to apply the force to the FSRs. This part has a different shape, depending on the type of the mouth piece. Currently, a LuerLock adapter is used (Big thanks to QuadJoy for providing the solution!). The acrylic part has a rectangular shape, 4 drills in each corner and one drill in the center.

This description is for the LuerLock adapter ONLY:

1. Press the white LuerLock plastic part into the hole. If necessary, use a plier (universal plier) to press it in. Adjust the position with the attached mouthpiece, that it is perpendicular.
2. Remove the mouthpiece, without moving the LuerLock adapter.
3. Attach all 4 rubber pads, centered to the engraved circles.
4. Use glue to fix the LuerLock adapter
5. Remove any glue of the top of the rubber pads
6. Use the M4 screws, the plates and springs to put both parts together, as it is shown in the following picture.

A fully assembled sensor carrier module is shown in following picture:

Putting the parts together

At this point, you should have following remaining parts:

• A case with two covers (and 4 M3 screws to mount them)
• A main PCB
• A sensor carrier
• A mouthpiece
• A mounting thread (3/8")

Now it's time for the final steps: the finishing

TBD....