In this instructable I will run through step by step how I created my radio for my Second Year University project. We were given a brief to hack a small portable sony radio and create a re-designed radio to accommodate for a specific chosen user. This radio is designed for my 93 year old grandmother who suffers from blindness and arthritis. The radio consists of a central cylindrical body with the main feature being an extractable key insert containing the battery pack which, when sloted into the top of the main body, turns the radio on and then can be twisted for he volume control.
The general concept of my radio is that the battery pack is taken out of the radio casing into an external, removable key that when inserted into the open top of the new body, connects up the circuit and turns it on. After this, when the key insert is twisted, it controls the volume of the radio. The idea behind this was to make it easier for an old aged user to interact with the radio without small inconvenient and unnecessary buttons.
Here is a link to a short demonstration video of the final prototype.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVgWJsDZv84
The general concept of my radio is that the battery pack is taken out of the radio casing into an external, removable key that when inserted into the open top of the new body, connects up the circuit and turns it on. After this, when the key insert is twisted, it controls the volume of the radio. The idea behind this was to make it easier for an old aged user to interact with the radio without small inconvenient and unnecessary buttons.
Here is a link to a short demonstration video of the final prototype.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVgWJsDZv84
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Signing UpStep 1: Radio Overview
At the beginning of the project we were each given our own radios to take apart and use for our final design. The handset we were given was a simple fm/am Sony ICF- S22 that you can buy from amazon for under £10, I have posted the link below. This was ideal as it is well built with all the basic functions you need in a standard radio, but easy enough to disassemble and manipulate.
The radio is cuboidal, measuring around 750mm wide x 1200mm high x 250mm deep. To dismantle the radio I first removed all the external screws. Then, with a flat screw driver and knife, gently went around the centre divide slowly prising the casing open, being careful not to damage any of the internal components. The radio circuit board is held down with two small clips that when pulled back loosens the parts allowing the circuit board to be taken out from the case. The small speaker cone was glued to the inside of the front casing, later on to get it out I slightly cut through the glue and pushed though it popping it out with out any damage.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0007YQNSW/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d3_g23_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=09MZZKK18E4BZTH09T4G&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294
The radio is cuboidal, measuring around 750mm wide x 1200mm high x 250mm deep. To dismantle the radio I first removed all the external screws. Then, with a flat screw driver and knife, gently went around the centre divide slowly prising the casing open, being careful not to damage any of the internal components. The radio circuit board is held down with two small clips that when pulled back loosens the parts allowing the circuit board to be taken out from the case. The small speaker cone was glued to the inside of the front casing, later on to get it out I slightly cut through the glue and pushed though it popping it out with out any damage.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0007YQNSW/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d3_g23_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=09MZZKK18E4BZTH09T4G&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294
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This is a very interesting project and a very unique way to customize a radio to better fit the consumer. However, I would suggest making the "key" contacts recessed if you decided to make something like this again, as exposed positive/negative contacts positioned like this could be prone to short circuiting if someone was to place it upon a flat metal/other conducting surface.
I'm wondering: you made the volume control pretty large, because of the arthritis. Why is the control for adjusting the channels not so big?
When I do i was actually looking forward toseeing how she finds the tuning control actually, because as you said its quite small. Its actually very light and easy to twist so she might find it ok, maybe in hindsight it would have been better to use all of the surface area around that dial to make it bigger.
The whole design was based around the removable control switch from the start and one of the problems with her radio that she has now is that she cant reach down to turn on wall plugs and batteries are hard to change. When I found that out, one of my ideas at the start was to actually power the top part via a small solar panel at the top of the key insert which could charge up re-chargable batteries or potentially eliminate batteries all together. Then she could rest the top on the window ledge beside where she sits with her radio and let it charge when she isn't using it. If I had a bit longer for the project I would have liked to source a suitable sized panel to do that.
Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it