This was in my recommended and I’m glad I clicked. Obviously I subscribed I can’t wait until you have like 10 million subs. You’re gonna blow up soon bro
Great job on the video Andrew! Love this idea, and really nice that you followed up with a v2. Will probably throw a mention about your video in my next one!
I have been working on a similar solution, being inspired by your first video, and a couple of suggestions I could bring to the table are: - You can remove the battery connector, and solder to the debug pins on the board - You can use enameled wire for that, as they're way thinner PS: Thanks for showing how you managed to preserve the speaker, that screwed me over last time.
From what I can see in the video, you can make it smaller by removing the battery connector on the tag, it seems to be bulky. Probably conncting wires directly to PCB will give you extra room for improvements. Nice work, it was really interesting.
I'm hearing the wallet as about the same loudness, but it's definitely more shrill whereas the original AirTag is more full sounding. Your wallet one sounds like it has a distortion filter on it. This is a cool project!
1. The speaker needs air chambers (both front and back) to enhance (resonance) the sound. That's why it sounds louder and warmer with the original enclosure on. 2. Coin battery has high internal resistance (compared with Alkaline, Li-ion, or LiFeS2). The IR would grow higher when the battery is used and the delta between two batteries would cause reverse charging which could reduce the battery life. Adding diodes between batteries and the PCB could help, but it would reduce the usable energy of the battery as the voltage would drop below the minimum operating voltage of the MCU earlier.
If you make a v3 try to find a piece of plastic that is round with the same mass / weight as the original casing so it vibrates at its resonant frequency
Thank you so much Andrew! I have ordered a 3rd party printer to produce one for me (I don’t have a printer) as this is exactly what I was looking for. I can’t thank you enough for both videos and designing the template. Let’s hope I don’t destroy my tag pulling it apart. Keep the vids coming !
From the first one, I was thinking about the waterproofing. It's rare but I know I've been caught in the rain and I'd be worried to short it out. It's wasteful to only use it for a short time but with 2 years you could encase it in thin resin or sugru or something to really waterproof For the speakers I agree its hard to match the resonant frequencies to the original. It's a much harder project but there's some research into tuning 3d printed shapes to specific resonant freqs, so it amplifys the tweet
That's a good point! I like to use silicone conformal coating for waterproofing, like this: www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-Silicone-Conformal-Coating/dp/B085G42TGS/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=conformal+coating&qid=1620676121&sr=8-3
Nope. If you WANTED, you could cover up the PCB in resin or shit. NOT the Batteries. Because a) they stay replaceable and more importantly b) water ain't do shit against the Batteries and the Cables. See, the problem with water is, that it lets shit corrode, therefore short stuff and potentionally damage components permanently. That ain't a problem for the Battery connectors; clean them and you are fine. And if the batteries died, which is pretty unlikely, get a new one. Question tough is: Why? The point of this built was as it seems to make it more wallet friendly. Don't know bout you, but for me it's quite rare to go swimming with my wallet. Rain ain't gonna do anything. It's protected by the wallet and I don't know about you - but I don't take showers with my wallet or let it sit for hours in a monsoon type rain. In a regular rain scenario, especially with the duck tape cover, it will NEVER get so wet that one would need to worry. Keep sure not to throw it in the washing machine and being waterproof or not will not make any difference.
Great job. I think some of the sound level, is in part the material Apple uses, but also the shape of the Airtag, the shape is oval, and not had open at one end. This would make your device a bit thicker, but I would suggest making one side enclosed, no opening on both sides, make the side closest to the enclosed area a bit smaller and the open are a bit larger, Also I would suggest print i so the closed end, has a few small openings for speaker output. Then when you put it all together, tape the one side and see if that make the sound louder. Great job, hope to see a version 3!
Keep up the good work! I was thinking of making a wallet with a custom airtag pocket, but this approach is much better. I hope if/when you are done/satisfied with this project you can provide a step by step guide for everyone!
What is the size comparison to a credit card? What are your thoughts on encasing what you built in some type of shell with open slits that would give more air/space for the sound to bounce off of? You’re a genius! I have enjoyed watching your videos and would definitely buy one of these!
Love the new V2. may be for the next version, you can please considering a good card case design that is water proof and compact enough to be kept in the wallet. Also, a hole punch in the corner can help you use the same in a key chain as well.
Maybe also try to use pcb board so you don’t need to 3D print card design but use pcb including the connection for extra batteries. To make card design ? If you don’t have 3D printer at home or offices :)
I would assume the construction of the AirTag is what made it work so well as a speaker. The plastic is probably similar to ABS if not ABS. The way that all the parts are secured essentially turns the entire white plastic surface of the tag into a speaker cone. I’m sure you’ve realized this, but I saw you were just adding a piece of plastic on top and expecting it to be as loud. The reason the AirTag worked better is probably because all the edges of the “speaker cone” were secured in a rigid manner on the original construction which doesn’t waste as much energy as your version and makes it louder just like a real speaker. The magnet is also secured rigidly at the back of the voice coil to make the movement much more predictable and stable thus increasing movement accuracy and in turn sound quality and volume levels
Great work! Now get rid of the thick wires by using thin metal conductors, much like the pieces of spring-metal you find for battery contacts in other devices, e.g., flashlights, remotes, etc.; or just by some copper/conductor strips on Amazon. Next dump the duct tape for the same, much-thinner blister-pack plastic you cut out of that screws package; on the bottom side, you can glue it permanently, and it may improve sound; on the top, make it in two pieces, and you can glue it permanently over the logic board/radio, again, possibly improving sound: and if you seal the power conductors, it’s now water-resistant again; and you can make the battery side access a hinged “flap”, with which you can close using a light adhesive, rubber cement, or very thin double-sided tape for easier access - in two years. LOL. You could also cut the plastic battery cover with a little pull tab so you can easily pry it apart. Great Work!! A wallet is literally the only use I have for an AirTag/tracker product; you have inspired me! I only wish I had a 3D printer!
Bravo! I think the case of the original airtag forms part of the acoustic system hence why your modified airtag not only doesn’t sound as loud but is also missing some of the frequencies.
I think the reason why the speaker is quieter is that the coil is not held in rigidly. That way, some of the energy got absorbed by the plastic sheet the coil attached to. Maybe try 3d print it with a dedicated socket that fixes the coil in place firmly. But to keep everything as thin might be tricker.
Higher sound on the original one might have to do with the bowl like shape from inside. I guess that will not be possible to mimic on the new form factor. So, kudos the work you've done here. Awesome.
From the video, yours sounds about just as loud, but it’s got a slightly different sound. Like 1 really sharp ping instead of multiple, lower loudness pings. Anyways, great stuff! This beats waiting for apple to make it.
OK LETS TALK SHELL The material is important, but much more important is that it is fixed to both the pcb and the magnet. Meaning it’s a geometry problem, and you should apply/print a thin film across the hole with the magnet. Speakers don’t shake the cones impotently in the wind, they move in relation to a fixed point.
what if you use the plastic sheet as a "faceplate" for the airtag? the air gap could also help recreate the tweeter effect the original dome design has.
Suggestions for v3. -replace one of the battery with a speaker, for example a basic casio watch speaker, and reroute the sound to the speaker, so that ypu have a much louder speaker. -from what it looks like the main height of the air tag is made up of its outer plastic rim. It seems like theres also embedded metal so it probably works as an atenna of some sort. Maybe try reverse engineering it so that you can put the antennas flat on the 3d printed plastic. Then you can get rid of the black plastic and it would be mouch thinner -what if instead of 3d printed plastic you would use an actual pcb? Or more like a pcb sandwich. JLC PCB sponsores a lot of makers and if you perfect your idea you could start looking into making a thinner betterlooking pcb version - test its sound IN a wallet. If its too quiet maybe you could build a wallet that has a speaker on its side, and when you put your air tag card it connect via small pins with the wallet speaker, or embedd the air tag into a wallet from the ground up Great project man, really love it
Another excellent video and a very cool upgrade with the extended battery life! I have an idea for your next modified card airtag. How about increased antenna efficiency for a much longer range? Current range is about 30 feet.
Lmao definitely not possible. Apple has exclusive agreement with most of the companies that make the chiplets on airtags (and other apple products) it also probably has firmware on it that looks it down
Nice idea and nice videos. My only concern will be how well the batteries hold their connection to the solder. The smallest amount of movement could disconnect them. A thin CR2032 holder with a spring in it may help. Or tac weld the wires or metal strips to the batteries seeing you only need to do this once every 1-2 years.
So I’ve been testing this setup since I came across this video and based on this setup my batteries lasted way less than the AirTag I did not cracked open
FYI you cant use double sided tape to hold the coil its too "squishy" the coil needs to resonate whats its stuck to so use epoxy, you could 3d print a .4 layer on the back of the card for that.
Just an editing tip. When you do a sound test like you did for the volume of the airtags, turn the background music off. Makes it harder to hear. Great stuff though keep it up :)
Great Video as always! Congrats for 1K subs! I think this loudness should be enough, but ofcourse, as you have it in hand, you know it better than I do!, haha
It's also possible to use any 3V battery with higher capacity like a CR123A which gives you aprox 6 years of battery life in theory, i had printed a case for it and placed it inside my bike frame :) (Keep in mind CR123A is pretty thick about 4-6 times the size of the CR2032)
@@andrewngai5215 actually it doesn’t that much I’ve installed a small bit of copper inside and drilled a 0.25mm hole and filled it with copper it works fine :)
THANK YOU! I'm going to try to used a thin layer of epoxy that'll harden underneathe to hopefully improve the acoustics even though yours does sound great. Apple watch I believe has a decibel meeter, hopefully will get some figures for the sound difference. Thank s again man. Awesome.
He uploaded the 3d file, you can get them printed for a small fee and put tag in it. I'm not sure I'll trust someone from etsy to perform the entire assembly for me.
@andrewngai - i would still like to see a card made with 4 CR2012 batteries in parallel so we can have a card that is thinner at the edges, it might also be possible to shave down the board by removing some of the edge plastics, then sandwich the whole thing in .1mm protective plastic, or even make it waterproof again. I'm guessing with the board in the middle and the 4 coins at each corner, it might reach 3mm at the thickest around the board, and 1.5 mm by the corners where the coins are. With rounded edges it would be a really slick card.
Hey, Love your Video! As a new video idea. Can you make it like a key Organizer. Like the key smart pro but with air tags inside? Would Love to see that. Have been looking for months for something like this.
Just stumbled upon this. Why wouldn't you print a cover instead? you can even groove the cover to accommodate the wires. Add channels to the base and rails on the cover, you can slide them over and somewhat secure it.
Hi Andrew, putting 2 CR2032 cell batteries in series will put 6 volts to the board, this will not give you 2 years battery life but will probably shorten the life of the board. Good idea though. Next year Apple will probably bring your idea to real life. Loving the videos.👌🏻😉
You can also experiment with fully covered bottom and some hollow plastic around the sides, you have ton of empty space, which would resonate a bit more.
Is it Apple's engineering or was the speaker damaged as you tried to pry it? Cause, I was expecting you Dremel it around the case with the sanding attachment and remove the PCB. For the glue, isopropyl alcohol would be my way to go, but of course everyone has their own way.
Hi. I purchased the Airtag specifically on release day for my eBike. Now it has a Tile Sport and an Airtag. My question is do you think the orientation of the airtag will be better for detection - laying flat at the base of the bike or standing upright? Flat like a plate on the table or upright like a clock face on the wall? I assume the bike will always be standing upright.
The speaker was quiet because of the way you have the plastic positioned under the board, it needs to be attached to the coil in a way that it is free to vibrate
From what it sounds, it seems like Apple optimize the the tunes waves to be constructive not destructive and tuned to the specific shell. If so this would be like audio engineer tuning your speakers for you home.
Hey Andrew! Great work man. I was quite confused on why you have always used a separate tape for the battery half of the card, and also why some of the battery is being left uncovered? Also, you could print the card with tapered edges for a better feel right? Looking forward to this becoming a full-fledged series!
Nice attention to the details lol. I used a separate piece of tape for the battery is because if I need to switch out the batteries, I don't have to tear out the ones that have the electronics covered, sort of like a battery door. I am not sure about a series LOL
If you want people to listen and compare sounds, it would be beneficial to not have any background noise or music playing that could interfere in the evaluation.
Great video! I noticed in the video I can see your apple id email and your phone number. I don't know if you wanted this public or not, just letting you know
It’s the shape of the Apple Airtag’s backing that is creating the acoustics for that little speaker to reach such volumes. It has nothing to do with what the material is made out of. Apple is not engineering new types of plastics... yet.
