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?

Buy it and suport us

You will be able to buy it soon from many places, for now we are taking preorders here cost is 20$ per ball build without battery

Make it your self

Step 1: Get all materials

You will be able to order kit from us or you can source all neaded components by your self.

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

All gerber files are 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

We recomend ordering from LCSC but you can find all the componets on other sites as well (Mouser,Digikey...). 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 PCTG for good optical properties/cheap/easy to print/mechanical properties similar to PC. But PC is also posible to use.

Magnets

For magnets we are using 6 6mm*5mm N42 neodimium magnets.

Brass

For ball balancing we are using 6mm brass rod cuted into 6*5mm peaceas. We chose brass rod because it is really easy to find and it is cheap it has high density and it is not toxick.

Glue

Any superglue will work fine

4. Battery

We are using 18350 Li-Ion battery. We recomend capacity ranging from 1100mAh to 1200mAh (for balance reasons). 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 (0.35mm) and to set temperature of bad to 100 C and nozle to 250 C. Also print counterwight for balance and fill it with solder.

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 3.3V to 2.5V trace when programing so UDPI voltages do match.

Also you schold test your PCB by using baterry if all LEDs are on. TODO make video how to do it for our PCB

Step 5: Cut brass rod

Now you nead to cut that 6mm btass rod into 5mm pieces, you will nead 12 of them.

Step 6: Insert magnets and brass rods into shells

Now you will nead to insert magnets and brass rods into 3D printed shells and glue it in using superglue. And wait till it will dry.

Step 7: 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 8: Test

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