IR golf ball

What / Why it is?

A golf size ball emiting IR light powered by 18350 Li-Ion battery with 40khz modulation (8 pulzes of 40khz then off with period of 1.2khz)

How to get it?

You are able to buy it here https://robofuze.com/ cost is 20EUR per ball build without battery and 15EUR for kit.

How to make it your self from scratch

Step 1: Get all materials

1. Flex PCB

We recomend to order flexPCB from eather JLCPCB or PCBWAY, both do have sponsorship programs so you might be able to get it for free. Depending on your buget and skill set also think about ordering stencil (all componentc are posible to solder by hand soledring but it is easier to do it with stencil)

https://www.pcbway.com/sponsor.html

https://jlcpcb.com/help/article/how-to-apply-for-free-pcb

You can find all files neaded for manufacturing here in this repo.

2. Electrical components

Image	Quantity	Comment	Footprint	Value	LCSC	Mouser	DigiKey
	24	22uF	C0603	22uF	GRM188R60J226MEA0D	GRM188R60J226MEA0D	GRM188R60J226MEA0D
	3	47uF	C0805	47uF	C2012X5R1A476MTJ00E	C2012X5R1A476M125AC	C2012X5R1A476M125AC
	1	4.7nF	C0603	4.7nF	CC0603KRX7R9BB472	CC0603KRX7R9BB472	CC0603KRX7R9BB472
	1	120pF	C0603	120pF	CL10C121JB8NNNC	CL10C121JB8NNNC	CL10C121JB8NNNC
	1	SS1045-SMB	SMB_L4.4-W3.6-LS5.3-RD		SS1045-SMB	VSSB7L45-M3/52T	VSSB7L45-M3/52T
	1	220nH	IND-SMD_L4.1-W4.1	220nH	IHLP1616BZERR22M01	IHLP1616BZERR22M01	IHLP1616BZERR22M01
	42	XL-2835IR-T202	SMD2835		XL-2835IR-T202(recomended)	XXX	SE03-LP2835S-1400-940
	1	XL-1608SURC-06	LED0603		XL-1608SURC-06	SML-D12V8WT86	SML-D12V8WT86
	1	AP3404	SOT-23-3		AP3404	AP3404	AP3404
	42	10Ω	R0603	10Ω	0603WAF100JT5E	0603WAF100JT5E	0603WAF100JT5E
	3	10k	R0603	10k	RC0603FR-0710KL	RC0603FR-0710KL	RC0603FR-0710KL
	1	316kΩ	R0603	316kΩ	RC0603FR-07316KL	RC0603FR-07316KL	RC0603FR-07316KL
	1	100kΩ	R0603	100kΩ	RC0603FR-07100KL	RC0603FR-07100KL	RC0603FR-07100KL
	1	100Ω	R0603	100Ω	0603WAJ0101T5E	0603WAJ0101T5E	0603WAJ0101T5E
	1	ATTINY202-SSNR	SOIC-8		ATTINY202-SSNR	ATTINY202-SSNR	ATTINY202-SSNR
	1	TPS62A06DRLR	SOT-563-6		TPS62A06DRLR	TPS62A06DRLR	TPS62A06DRLR
	1	1812L400/12GR	F1812		1812L400/12GR	MF-MSMF260-2	MF-MSMF260-2
	1	181 Keystone Spring	AAA spring		181 Keystone Spring	181 Keystone Spring	181 Keystone Spring

We recomend ordering from LCSC but you can find all the componets on other sites as well (Mouser,Digikey...), only one problematick component is LEDs, there are some alternatives but IR emision might be slightli diferent. For finding best suplier for you, we recomend using https://octopart.com/ and checking out list of eqvivalent componts (TODO list of eqvivalent components and selection criterias)

3. Mechanical components

Filament

Shells are 3D printed, after lot of testing we found out that best option in general is using Spectrum Premium PCTG 1.75mm TRANSPARENT ORANGE 1kg for good optical properties/cheap/easy to print/mechanical properties similar to PC.

Magnets

For magnets we are using 6 8mm5mm5mm neodimium magnets.

4mm balls

For ball balancing we are using 4mm steel balls, you schold be able to find local distributor, we buy them from https://www.temu.com/cz-en/1000pcs-3-5mm-3mm-4-5mm-4mm-steel-ball--ball-bearing-g-601099529146981.html

Glue

Any superglue should work fine but we recomend UHU MAX Repair

4. Battery

We are using 18350 Li-Ion battery. We recomend capacity ranging from 1100mAh to 1200mAh (for balance reasons) with weigt as close to 24g as posible . It schold be easy to find in your local vape shop or battery store. Dont forget to get charger if you dont have one.

Step 2: Print 3D shells

You can find stl files as well as sliced model in prushaslicer in 3d in this repo. Main thing to look for is to use enought of separation distance for suports (0.25mm) and to set temperature of bad to 80 C and nozle to 255 C. Also dont forget to print counterwight for balance. All the files can be found here . Time to print 1 shell is around 1:30h. For counterweight it is around 30min

Step 3: Asemble PCBs

While your 3d printer is working you can asemble PCBs. It can be done by hand but stencil is more convinient. We recomend to place coil as last component so you will be able to rework regulator solder joints if neaded after reflow.

Step 4: Program AtTiny

This step is not neaded when you did buy a kit from us. The best way to aproach this is to watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL9vK_xMt4E and upload code as mention in the video. Dont forget to contect 5V to 2.5V trace when programing so UDPI voltages do match. Also dont forgete to change freqvenci to 5MHz for attiny being able to work at 2.5V.

Step 5: Magnets and counterweights

First remove suports from 3d printed shell.

Then place balls in midle of every balancing pocket

Put glue on magnet

Insert magnet

And insert top balls and repeat

Do it twice, and then atach counter weight to PCB

Step 6: Insert PCB

Insert PCB into a 3D printed schells and make shure that baterry fits corectly. You can regulate contact of batery with PCB by adding or removing solder from battery contact pads that are on the PCB.

Step 7: Test

Test your ball if it glows using your mobile phone. The end (: