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Teardown

Special Edition Teardown: Lockitron Bolt with Paul Gerhardt

Dear readers, we have a special treat for you this week: The founder of Lockitron, Paul Gerhardt, came to Fictiv HQ to help us tear down his latest keyless-entry smart lock: Lockitron Bolt. Here’s a video to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the teardown and what Paul had to say about the product development process […]

Teardown

Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard Teardown

This week, we’re tearing down the Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard. It’s a fully programmable one-handed keyboard. Fictiv’s very own software engineer and MMO game enthusiast Craig Crossley recommends this model, citing its durability (three years and going strong) and ease of use. The G13 Gameboard retails at $79.99. We don’t see any screws on the front […]

Article

Learn by Example: How to Design Light Pipes

Light plays an important role in the design of many hardware products. Often, they are both decorative and functional. Indicator lights are the most minimal user interface: They tell you whether the device is turned on, low on battery, or “thinking” really hard. On modern electronics, the light’s source is almost always an LED. However, […]

Teardown

Hoverboard Teardown

By now, you’ve almost certainly seen a hoverboard out in the wild. While the current models still aren’t quite the quality of Marty McFly’s hoverboard (thanks, Doc!), it’s just as mesmerizing to see someone majestically gliding through the daily San Francisco sidewalk traffic. Not everyone feels the way I do, though—some find them dangerous (like the […]

Teardown

The Great Robotic Vacuum Showdown Part 2: Neato XV-21

Welcome to part 2 of The Great Robotic Vacuum Showdown! If you didn’t have a chance to check out Part 1 of this series where we took apart the Roomba, go ahead and check that out first. Neato Robotics is a newcomer to the robotic vacuum business compared to iRobot; it only began shipping products in […]

Article

The Great Robotic Vacuum Showdown Part 1: Roomba 650 — Mechanical System

The Jetsons predicted flying cars, jetpacks, and robot maids serving us lucky people living in the 21st century. Well, we kind of have two of those things, but only one has achieved mass market adoption. No… I wasn’t talking about jetpacks. iRobot is probably the brand name most commonly associated with robotic vacuums. It was […]

Teardown

Under Armour Band Teardown

Here’s the final piece of Under Armour’s technological trifecta: the Under Armour Band! That’s right, to rival Nike Fuelband and Fitbit, Under Armour has come out with a wearable of its own. Sleek and sporty, the band can measure heart rate, hours of sleep, and activity. In addition to counting steps and keeping time, it […]

Teardown

Under Armour Heart Rate Monitor Teardown

The next piece of Under Armour’s fitness-in-a-box solution is a heart rate monitor! If you missed the first teardown of the Under Armour Scale, check it out here. I had seen the promotional videos, featuring chiseled athletes breathing heavily through explosive exercises, wearing the strap above a cut abdominal core—heroically glistening Adonises and Aphrodites, cranking […]

Article

Your Prototyping Toolbox

There are a ton of different tools available for prototyping hardware. But how do you know which tool is the right one at any given time? One of the main properties we look at to determine whether or not a tool is appropriate for a given design phase is repeatability. Repeatability refers to the ability […]

Teardown

Under Armour Scale Teardown

Fictiv got me a scale for Valentine’s Day. I think someone is trying to say that second helpings of the catered lunches aren’t doing me any favors. Whatever; when life gives you subtle hints in the form of a personal health product, you tear that thing down! The UA Scale came as a part of […]

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