Basic Node for the Internet of Sex Toys – part 2: 3d printed form, assembly, molding

In this series of posts we describe how-to make a vibrating sex toy which is part of the Internet of Things.

part 1: Basic Node for the Internet of Sex Toys

part 2: Molding the Basic Node

In part 2 we describe how-to make a mold form for the basic node. We need three forms:

the mold form which consists of two parts
the inlay which protects the electronics of the basic node
a “hanging” for the inlay

We used Tinkercad to construct the parts. The molding form is based on Tinkercad’s banana form. You can edit and share them from your browser:

Inlay: https://tinkercad.com/things/h5fFOBqlmjw

Hanging: https://tinkercad.com/things/jUxc2oAamww

Form: https://tinkercad.com/things/6HS3XScOsCM

Instructions

Print out all forms. The STL files are available at Thingiverse. You might want to use XTC or similar for smoothing the inner part of the mold form.

Assembling the Inlay

We use the inlay to protect the electronics.

Simply put the electronics inside so that the upper body of the switch is on the same level as the upper inlay. We use hot glue to fix the basic node.

Then fix the receiver coil of the wireless charging module on top of the inlay. The next step is to fix the hanging at the inlay.

Now fix the LiPo battery on the bottom side of the inlay using hot glue or similar. Fix the wires. Finally you might fix the wires of the vibration motor next to the middle of the LiPo battery.

Use tinkering wire to fix both parts of the molding form.

Put the inlay in the form. Fix the hanging with a tape or similar. The motors shouldn’t touch the inner part of the form.

Now prepare the silicone. We use Shore A 45 silicone (approx. 250 ml) from Silikonfabrik.de. It is hard but still a bit flexible. You may add color, too. You have about 10 minutes to stir the silicone and poor it in the form.

After some hours you can remove the form. As you can see there is overhang which make removing the form very hard. The form could break when removing. Better preparation of the form (eg rasping) could improve the results.

If the blue LED of the Wemos board is still active you were successful.

Now you need a charging station. The construction is shown here. It is also possible to connect the sender (or transmitter) module with a 5V power source (eg. from the USB port). Just put the bottom of the molded basic node on the sender coil.

In the next part we introduce an updated version of the software including over the air update and WiFi management.