Most patents don’t make it to market. And they cost a lot! Not to mention work-arounds which circumvent patents in order to create a competing product. And successful products are not always the first of their kind. A fear for every inventor is that his/her/per innovation will be stolen; hence the rush to patents. But […]
The M!nder logo has been finalized, and should be published in the next few days. Thanks to the efforts and creativity of the great Ko Kimura at No Shortscuts Studio, here in Vancouver. An outdoor test of one parking-scenario has been carried out, successfully. I’ll post a link to it here, if I don’t forget. […]
The enclosure remains a significant issue which I will have to tackle myself. The firmware has had a major feature added. Yes, at even this late a stage. The hardware has been a pain, but significant progress has been achieved. I’ve not had success at finding a part-time job, but then I’ve not had time […]
Due to the crisis in the supply of electronic components, I have had to look for substitute parts. It’s been an endless hunt for vendors/suppliers, and prices. Availability and prices change overnight. Even when I successfully order parts, the vendor cancels on me before shipping! Some parts have become far too expensive. Micro-controllers are a […]
Just a quick update. I’ve spent a lot of time on trying to find a local metal-shop that could help with the manufacturing of the enclosure. The main body of the latter _I_ will do, but the end discs are more problematic. Unfortunately, and to the best of my knowledge, they are typically made through […]
As outlined in some of the history of the Minder1 theft-deterrent for bicycles, the original hope was to mount the system inside the bicycle frame. Chief among the consequent problems was the difficulty of achieving loudness. The latter is determinative in the current (autumn 2021) size and mounting-point of the system. But it is not […]
With prices for off-the-shelf enclosures having risen, and supplies dwindling, I’ve had to consider making my own. Yet again! I’d started off by naively thinking of local, custom production. And the obligatory 3D-printing. Then, I ended up researching metal fabrication–even welding! The current focus is on sheet metal. All the going-around-in-circles eventually bore fruit: Riveting […]
I’ve had to learn more about angle grinders than I’d ever wanted to know! I have to run various tests of the system, using an angle grinder. (Saws, bolt cutters etc will also be in the attacks/threats tested.) For now, a basic, brief test is to be carried out, showing a snippet of the system’s […]
A lot of time was spent, over the (2+?) years, to find a way of generating loudness via the bike frame. While this is very possible, it will not be a commercial product, installable by average consumers. And frame modifications are never a desirable option! 🙂
