This is a solar-powered toy in the form of a flower. When it is powered, the flower petals move up and down. The toy is approximately 4.5 inches tall. This toy cost ONLY $5.37 on Amazon, so it should have cost significantly less to manufacture!
Summary of how the toy works
- The two petals are coupled mechanically such that when one moves, the other one also moves.
- One of the petals acts as a pendulum with a magnet at the base of it.
- When the toy is powered, pulses of electrical current are sent through a voice coil, which is placed at the base of the toy; this creates a magnetic field running along the axis of the voice coil.
- These pulses of magnetic field from the voice coil pull the magnet toward the voice coil to cause the petal’s pendulum to swing back and forth.
List of components
- Flower pot base:
- Plastic, injection molded as two separate parts
- Two halves mated together with pins and slots
- Two halves secured together with glue at the pins
- Electronic components with housing (explained more in detail below)
- Plastic, injection molded housing as two separate parts (top half and bottom half)
- Two halves of housing mated together with pins and slots
- Flower
- Three separate pieces
- Plastic, injection molded
- Pieces press-fit together with pins
- Petal (without magnet)
- Plastic, injection molded as one piece
- Petal (with magnet)
- Plastic, injection molded as one piece
- Magnet glued into fitted slot
- Top “lid”
- Plastic, injection molded as two parts
- Two halves snap into the flower pot base
Below is a more detailed description of the electronic components:
- Solar panel
- Off-the-shelf
- Estimated cost: $0.50
- Possible supplier: Hangzhou Sky New Power Technology, Co. Ltd.
- Capacitor
- Off-the-shelf
- Estimated cost: $0.03
- Possible supplier: Digikey (probably from elsewhere for this product)
- Electronics board
- Custom-made
- Has a blob of glue on it to coat/protect/secure components (probably with epoxy); also had a piece of tape to fix the board relative to the housing
- Estimated cost: $0.05
- Possible supplier: BatchPCB (probably from elsewhere for this product)
- Voice coil
- Custom-made (custom-wound wire)
- Estimated cost: $0.01
- Possible supplier: Digikey (probably from elsewhere for this product)
Summary of cost estimates
These estimates are based on orders of 10,000+ parts.
- Injection molded plastic parts: $0.50 (estimated from custompart.net)
- Electronic components: $0.60
- Assembly (salary of worker): $0.01 (estimated from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hon-hais-china-assembly-line-workers-get-pay-hike-2012-02-17; assuming: CNY 2,500 ($396.94 US) per month, 40 hours per week, 5 minutes per part–which is probably very conservative)
Probably assembly sequence
- Multi-part plastic components are snapped together (for example, the electronics housing, the flower)
- Magnet is glued to petal base
- Solar panel and voice coil are soldered to PCB (assuming PCB and voice coil were custom-made elsewhere)
- Electronic components are secured to plastic housing (by tape and glue)
- All the pieces are put together; mostly press-fit plastic parts; final step: two halves of flower pot are placed around housing and mated and glued together