Need help with a proof of concept prototype.

[DrMaccaroni]

Hi, I am working on a product idea but my knowledge of the engineering is severely limited. Basically what i need to build is a box that has an IR pair, that when tripped, will cause a simultaneous sanitation light to turn on for .5 of a second and a strong jet of water to be expelled. Now this is where the question comes, assuming price is of no concern, could those of you in this community who know more than I give me a parts list (if you gave me links to those parts id be your bff) of things required to make this work? Thank you for your time, aid in my project and your consideration in answering.

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

Hi there and welcome to Electronics Point

Have you worked out how to expel this jet of water? Do you have a pump in mind?

What about the "sanitation light"? Do you have an example?

How do you intend to power this unit? Battery or mains (line) power? I guess if it's to be used while shaving, you will want it to be battery operated for safety?

Do you have a general idea of the physical design of the box? Can you draw up an example?

In other words, have you done any work on this project apart from having the initial idea?

(BTW yes, my razor does get clogged up with hair, but it's fairly easily removed with a swish in the sink, or you can use an old toothbrush, so it's not really a problem for me.)

 

[DrMaccaroni]

Hi there and welcome to Electronics Point

Have you worked out how to expel this jet of water? Do you have a pump in mind?

What about the "sanitation light"? Do you have an example?

How do you intend to power this unit? Battery or mains (line) power? I guess if it's to be used while shaving, you will want it to be battery operated for safety?

Do you have a general idea of the physical design of the box? Can you draw up an example?

In other words, have you done any work on this project apart from having the initial idea?

(BTW yes, my razor does get clogged up with hair, but it's fairly easily removed with a swish in the sink, or you can use an old toothbrush, so it's not really a problem for me.)

First of all, thanks for the reply, ill answer your questions as best i can but they showed me how much more i need to delve into the project and how little I really know about making something like this., now lets begin:

As far as the water expulsion goes, I have no idea and i need to research this more but I wanted to get the electronics done first and then focus on the pump.

In the case of the sanitizing light I was thinking the ones that are in the boxes that barbers put their clippers in to keep them sanitized, as seen http://www.ibbe.net/pd-sterilizer-21-ym9007.cfm

I want the box to run off of 2 double a (AA) batteries

as far as the box go, for this stage it doesn't matter the size as long as I can get everything in there and working, but my final goal will be to have it be no larger than a tissue box, so 5inX4.13inX4.13in

and yes I just had the idea while trying to clean my razor but there was always still crap in it unless I didn't manually get in there with a toothbrush or something of the sort, but I want to make something more efficient than that process. And I just thought about making the cube 3 days ago so yea not too much thought has been put into the prototype itself and i am looking for a place to start that process so I came here.

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

OK, well, you'll get a lot more help if you take the initiative and investigate possibilities for every aspect of your project. I guess there's merit in the idea, and we will be happy to advise you on electronics-related specifics, but you have to be the driving force. Steve Jobs didn't achieve world technological domination just by having clever ideas then getting other people to do all the engineering work!

 

[DrMaccaroni]

Haha believe me I understand about being the driving force of a project, I've just never that experience with something technical like this and was just looking for a place to start, but again I thank you for the feedback and advice man.

 

[Arouse1973]

Here is something that might work. It might look complicated but it's not really. You don't need to be a programmer and it doesn't use a 555 timer The circuit is just an idea I had so might need a bit of tweaking. You will have to choose the IR devices yourself and you may need to modify the circuit voltages and drive transistors dependant on the light and water jet modules power requirements.

The circuit works like this. U1 forms a pulse train oscillator which drives LED1 with pulses, this then couples to IR pickup phototransistor FT1.

The pulses are A.C coupled through C2 which helps prevents ambient light from triggering a blocked sensor. U1-4 then should have a DC level high on its input so its output is low.

This holds off the two power FETS via C4 and R10 and gate U1-5. When the beam is broken R8 discharges C3 and gate U1-4 switches state to high.

This transfers a high to the right hand side of C4 which triggers U1-5 for a time period determined by C4 and R10 this then switches on the output transistors via U1-5.

When C4 has been discharged by R10 U1-5 switches off and so do the output transistors. At the moment they are on for about 0.5 seconds.

Adam

 

[DrMaccaroni]

Wow man thanks for taking the effort you did in writing this up, I just wish I could appreciate it more though haha, but none the less I honestly cant thank this community enough cuz this gives me something to learn. Thanks again!

 

[hevans1944]

I think perhaps a market survey to estimate the demand for your product is warranted before you invest much more time in your project.

I used to shave every day, and as @KrisBlueNZ said, hair became stuck in my razor. Sometimes I just swished it out, sometimes I just changed blades, and finally I just stopped shaving. Phil Roberts, of Duck Dynasty fame, observes that only women and young males do not grow beards. It is a most natural thing for a man to do. When I was a young male, I looked forward to the day when I too could take cold steel and scrape it across my face in a morning ritual of manhood. This absurd practice continued for many years as I tried many kinds of razors, including electric shavers, in attempts to achieve a smooth face. Some practices were more successful than others, but all were time consuming and, ultimately, I decided, unnecessary. I quit shaving quite a few years ago, although I do from time to time trim the ends of my beard a bit. My current wife loves my soft, silky beard. I will not be a customer for your ultraviolet light-sanitizing, water-jet, beard-hair extraction system. You might consider whether a Water Pic tooth blaster would serve the same purpose, sans sanitation.

I think I do remember reading that a germicidal UV light-emitting diode is now available. So your idea is practical, could be made quite small, and could operate from a pair of AA dry cells for awhile at least. My Water Pic was battery operated but totally sealed, being rechargeable through an inductance-coupled stand. I never worried about "sanitizing" the water-jet tips though. Just filled the tank with Listerine and jetted away.

Why does the "sanitizing light" and the water jet have to be timed? Surely the user will decide when the debris of shaving has been sufficiently removed from their razor, and will then release the button that activated the instrument? Or maybe press an OFF button. That's how my Water Pic operated: push one button to turn it on, another button to turn it off. Easy peasy, and I don't think I ever forgot to turn it off and ran the internal (rechargable) battery to depletion.

That said, you should try @Arouse1973 IR-controlled 0.5 second timer. You will need a boost converter to obtain from two AA cells the 12 V DC it needs, but it is a good introduction to CMOS Schmitt trigger hex inverters, Schottky diodes and power MOSFETs.

 

[(*steve*)]

finally I just stopped shaving

That was my decision in June of 2010. Never had a problem with hair in a razor since.

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

My partner likes a smooth shaved face (and a smooth shaved head, for that matter), and almost everyone thinks I look better without facial hair. But she lives 40 km away, so I only shave when we're together.

I also wouldn't use this invention. I don't see any need to sanitise my razor, and I would consider it a gimmick for people with a lot more money and a lot less time than me.

BTW Hop I think the timing idea is so you can leave the thing ready and waiting, and when you put the razor in the IR beam, it sprays it, then stops.

 

[hevans1944]

My partner likes a smooth shaved face (and a smooth shaved head, for that matter), and almost everyone thinks I look better without facial hair. But she lives 40 km away, so I only shave when we're together.

I also wouldn't use this invention. I don't see any need to sanitise my razor, and I would consider it a gimmick for people with a lot more money and a lot less time than me.

BTW Hop I think the timing idea is so you can leave the thing ready and waiting, and when you put the razor in the IR beam, it sprays it, then stops.

Actually, I think I look better clean-shaven too. And younger. So, once every five or six years or so I will shave all the hair off my face and marvel at the new person that appears thereunder. Then I grow it back. Takes about three months to get back to a neatly trimmed state. I tried the somewhat fashionable three-day or one-week beard effect but my wife hates that: the stubble hurts her tender skin.

I suggested the OP build the timing circuit merely to become somewhat familiar with real-world electronics, since this is an electronics forum. Maybe by the time they get it working other ideas, perhaps even practical ideas, will occur that the OP can put into play with their new-found electronic construction skills. Well, at least this isn't a thread about "over unity" free power schemes...

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

I had do that last month. It's a pity now haha

It's also a bit surprising, considering that your profile claims that you're a 23-year-old female! Did you forget about that?

 

[BobK]

Another great thing about beards is that they can be used to create a system of measurement units:

From Wikipedia:

Beard-second[edit]
The beard-second is a unit of length inspired by the light-year, but used for extremely short distances such as those in integrated circuits. The beard-second is defined as the length an average beard grows in one second. Kemp Bennett Kolb defines the distance as exactly 100 angstroms (10 nanometers),[9] as does Nordling and Österman's Physics Handbook.[10] However, Google Calculator supports the beard-second for unit conversions using the value 5 nm.[11]

Bob