Electronics newb - Would this be possible?

Hello everyone,
I'll start off by saying I know absolutely nothing about electronics and this is why I am here. I am conducting initial research around an entrepreneurial idea I have had and that I would like to develop.

What I basically need is a device that vibrates at different intensities depending on what data is being received through bluetooth module. Imagine an iphone app with three buttons: low, medium and high. depending on what button is pressed, i need the device to vibrate accordingly. that simple. In other words what i need is a "remotely controlled bluetooth vibrating board". Further details: the board must have battery cells and a charging module.

Here is the catch: I need it to fit within 3.5cm x 1cm x 0.6cm. Would this be physically possible? If not what would be the minimum size I could make it with?

Also, if I could kindly ask someone to list me all the components that would be required that would be great.

All the information you have that could point me in the direction please do share!

Thank you everyone very much for reading!

Giacomo Poppi said:

I'll start off by saying I know absolutely nothing about electronics and this is why I am here. I am conducting initial research around an entrepreneurial idea I have had and that I would like to develop.

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If you know absolutely nothing about electronics you shouldn't be trying to build something like this. Go hire an engineering consultant and have them design this module for you. In the long run this will be vastly cheaper.

You're obviously a perfect fit for CEO (company marketing figurehead ;-)) and NOT the CTO (chief technical officer, a.k.a. the big kahuna propeller head )

Giacomo Poppi said:

What I basically need is a device that vibrates at different intensities depending on what data is being received through bluetooth module. Imagine an iphone app with three buttons: low, medium and high. depending on what button is pressed, i need the device to vibrate accordingly. that simple. In other words what i need is a "remotely controlled bluetooth vibrating board". Further details: the board must have battery cells and a charging module.

Here is the catch: I need it to fit within 3.5cm x 1cm x 0.6cm. Would this be physically possible? If not what would be the minimum size I could make it with?

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Is it just me or does this sound like some sort of iPhone controlled sex toy? :laugh:

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Dang I just did a search and there are a lot of those toys on the market :shock:. No wonder everyone wants an iPhone!

Hahah, no it's not going to have anything to do with sex toys! rest assured!

I am a university student and I understand that I shouldn't be attempting anything this complicated as it isn't my field of expertise. As stated, I'm only conducting initial researches to find out if my project is feasible. Once I have developed my business plan and made sure that my project is achievable, I will then be getting in contact with engineering consultants/engineering students.

If you could help out in anyway please do post some comments. The most important pieces of information I need to know are: how small I could get such a board down to, the main components needed and the price ranges of each unit (all modules included, approximately: £0-20, £21-40, £41+?)

thanks again!

Giacomo Poppi said:

Hahah, no it's not going to have anything to do with sex toys! rest assured!

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Awwww, testing would have been so much more fun, otherwise. Let's not forget to mention the opportunities..."Hello, would you like to become a QA tester for this new product?"... ;-)

If you could help out in anyway please do post some comments. The most important pieces of information I need to know are: how small I could get such a board down to, the main components needed and the price ranges of each unit (all modules included, approximately: £0-20, £21-40, £41+?)

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Don't know about price but you'll definitely need something like this.
Beyond that I don't have any experience working with vibration motors (and if they can have different levels of vibration). Hmm **broken link removed** Take a look at the graph. There a probably quite a few others that can make suggestions of circuits to both power the bluetooth module and generate varying voltages (three set values) for the vibration motor. Good luck with your project.

@ads-ee thanks for the replies! You have been very helpful.

I believe that I am going to have to do some more research on my own and maybe come back here with some further questions

If anyone else can also contribute in the meantime that would be great! In particular I need to know if I could achieve this with dimensions inferior to: 3.5cm x 1cm x 0.6cm. thank you very much!

I think you will have to go to NASA for this one. The vibrator will have to work at a low frequency, so that precludes piezo devices, so it must be electro magnetic. Coils and armatures are available with really small dimensions (DIL relays), but because of their really small parts, even if they vibrate, the energy is so low that you would be hard to notice it. Also the battery needs to supply the energy for this vibration, and I guess for a fairly long time, standby 3 days, 3n minutes of action. And you need a bluetooth receiver in the same package.
Can't you write an APP to get the phones internal vibrator to alter its characteristic?
Frank

i only need relatively small amounts of vibration. enough for a user to clearly notice it if he/she was touching the components directly. does it really sound too complex to fit in the given dimensions.

Chuckey I'm not sure why you say NASA has to build the vib motor? The link I provided for the vibration motor is only 1cm x .2cm. The company has other models with different dimensions.

Besides NASA is more interested in reliability/redundancy than in miniturization, for that you have to look to the consumer goods market. That's why that site mentions how they can be used in cell phones.

Certainly the vibrator is no problem, just about all the ones fitted in mobile phones will work. They are simply tiny motors with weights on the shaft to throw them out of balance as they turn. More volts = more shake. There are many on Ebay and through normal component distributors.

However if you have to fit the rest of the electronics, particularly the battery in that space it becomes a problem. I think it can still be done but I would guess two batteries would be needed and that quickly eats up space, particularly in the 6mm direction.

Brian.