How to build your phone from scratch. Putting together your own smartphone. How to make a bright lamp using your phone


Everyone who cares about their appearance, whether a man or a woman, is attentive to the choice of clothing, shoes, accessories. After all, the external appearance of a person should express his inner world, reflect the individual character traits. But sometimes, thinking over his outfit in detail, a person completely forgets about the mobile phone. And, meanwhile, the phone is no less significant component of the image than, for example, a briefcase or a handbag.

Today, the main goal of mobile phone manufacturers is their technical equipment. Webcam, Wi-Fi, biorhythm calculator - what functions do modern cell phones lack. However, in the pursuit of technical characteristics, many manufacturers neglect the development of original designs. As a result, mobile phones of different people are exactly the same, and sometimes the appearance can bring dissonance to a well-thought-out image of a person. Anyone who strives to be truly stylish should not forget about the design of their mobile phone. Today, there are several basic possibilities for personalizing an ordinary cell phone. The use of special paints for plastic allows you to decorate the case with stylish ornaments, pasted crystals will make the phone sparkle, an original keychain will make it attractive, and Flash Lite screensavers will be able to "revive". When trying to decorate a mobile phone, it is important to observe the measure. Using all possible techniques for decorating can turn the phone into a kind of "monster". For example, a phone decorated with a solid pink ornament, a scattering of rhinestones, an attention-grabbing keyring will help create an image of a blonde from jokes, which is not acceptable to anyone. When decorating your phone in order to make it individual, it is recommended to choose one (maximum two) decoration method. It can be an exquisite ornament or a string of rhinestones, a pretty pattern or a stylish pendant. The final choice is always with the owner. But in vain, many people consider only a mobile phone case worthy of jewelry. Almost all modern models can boast of a large screen, sometimes occupying more than half of the body. An original screen design can be its best decoration. The choice of themes offered by phone manufacturers is rather meager. Therefore, those who want to stand out will preferably make a theme for the phone on their own. You can create a custom theme using the online theme builder. Anyone can create a suitable theme for themselves, because the style of its design entirely depends on the tastes of the creator. Pictures of relatives and loved ones, funny pictures, posters of singers and actors, picturesque landscapes, reproductions of famous paintings and much, much more can be selected as screensavers. Themes for phones can be static or animated, can include original indicators, watches with unusual dials. When creating a theme, you can provide for a change of screensavers depending on the time of day or time of the year, you can please yourself with a greeting card on your birthday or other holiday. In an effort to look stylish, no detail should be overlooked, including the mobile phone. Like other accessories, a properly designed cell phone can emphasize the style of its owner, become one of the ways to express his individuality. And what part of the phone needs to be decorated - whether it will be a case or a screen - it is up to the owner to decide.

April 1, 2013 at 04:36 AM

DIY mobile phone. Part 1

  • DIY or do it yourself

The circuit is not without flaws, and mostly uses what I had "at hand". Of course, this solution is not suitable for serial production, but it is quite suitable for experiments. We will not dwell here on the operation of this circuit and on the calculations of the denominations, since they are elementary and are described in detail in the documentation for the corresponding microcircuits.
So, we assemble the circuit on a breadboard (Fig. 3) and carry out load tests, while controlling the temperature of the fuel elements. The tests were passed successfully.
If you are going to use only a GSM module, without other nodes, then the + 5V and 3.3V sources are not needed.

Fig. 3. Power supply board

Keyboard board
The layout of the keyboard board is taken almost unchanged from the module documentation. However, after it was built, it turned out that a number of buttons are not supported by this version of the module. In principle, it is possible not to connect the keyboard to the module at all, all actions with the module can be performed using AT commands via UART.
The keyboard layout is shown in Fig. 4. Diodes are used to protect the module from static voltage.

Fig. 5. Keyboard board

GSM module board
Moving on to the main board.
Since the device is assembled on a breadboard, I decided to use not the Quectel M10 module, which is soldered on the board, but its "derivative", the module with the M10-TE-A module, which has an IDC connector with a contact pitch of 1.27mm (double-row socket). The antenna is connected to a special small connector (GSC) via a GSC-SMA adapter. In a serial device, on a normal board, of course, it makes sense to use a regular M10 module. Please note that the M10 and M10-TE-A have different pin numbering, so the circuit will also need to be adjusted.

So, the board diagram:

And the board itself:

Fig. 7. GSM board

The circuit contains a module, a SIM card holder, a headset connector, a keyboard connector and a pair of microcircuits: an RS-232 interface and an auxiliary microcircuit for connecting a piezo emitter and an LED to the module. There are no special circuitry frills here, almost everything is taken from the documentation for the module.
A couple more words about connecting the keyboard. Since rows ROW3, \u200b\u200bROW4 and column COL4 are not used by the module, I decided to use them for the buttons to turn the module on and off.
The phone has no display either. Although the module has pins for direct connection of the display, it still cannot be connected, since this function (like many others) is disabled for modules that are on the public sale.
A supercapacitor is used to power the real-time clock (a 1F capacitor, a large round piece on the board). If the clock is not needed, it can be omitted.

Assembly
So, it's time to build our constructor:

Figure: 8. Everything is ready for assembly

Figure: 9. Telephone assembly

Now you can insert a SIM card, connect power, connect your phone to a computer via a COM port and start examining AT commands.

A few words about the budget.

Budget
Quectel M10-TE-A Module RUB 665.64
Antenna 120 r.
SIM card holder SCV-W2523X-06-LF 21,80r
Adapter cable GSC-SMA - 161.86 rubles.

The rest of the components were found within a radius of three meters.

In conclusion of the first part
The next part will discuss the AT commands supported by the module.
Links
Unfortunately, the manufacturer's website contains far from complete information about the module. Most of the pdf files are not publicly available, however, you can find some of them on the net. I took the trouble to collect these files and

In the salons of cellular communication, the choice of mobile phones is very limited: either completely "dumb" dialers, or smartphones with large screens. But why buy a cell phone from a store when you can make your own phone? This is what the American programmer Kevin Lynagh thought - and he made the dream come true.

In a presentation at the !! Con 2015 conference, Kevin explained how he did it.

With a B in electronics at university, it was hard for Kevin to figure it out. But he still started assembling with electronic components. First of all, I picked up a mobile chip: Qeuctel UC15.

Then I examined the device of the USIM card.

I chose a GSM / UMTS antenna: this is Rubra Penta-band SMD. And he ordered a board on which the entire economy will be attached.

Then it was time to think about the software part: the mobile phone should respond to keystrokes, shine with LEDs, interrogate the mobile chip about calls, determine the low battery level, the presence of communication with the base station, etc. The software runs on an Atmel ATMEGA1284-AUR 8-bit microcontroller, which costs $ 8.03. For this price, we get an 11 MHz controller and 128 KB of program memory. This is real wealth. As the author says, programs are written in C style. The absence of an operating system eliminates unnecessary headaches.

The phone case is made of leather and natural wood: the most practical materials.

All electronics fit perfectly inside.

A homemade mobile phone does not have a display that only wastes battery consumption. But it does have wireless charging.

Kevin Linach says the job took him 360 working hours. A lot. But it was worth it. Making a mobile phone with your own hands - what could be more interesting?

Due to the constant decline in the cost of cell phones and the regular appearance of new models, almost everyone can find several unused cell phones of varying degrees of obsolescence. If the phone, although outdated, is quite functional, then some kind of remote notification system can be made from it, for example, a GSM alarm system or a GSM microphone. It's another matter if you got the device incomplete or even in the form of wreckage.

It seems that nothing useful can be extracted from such a device, but this is not so. Naturally, it is not rational to remove SMD elements for reuse. But any cell phone has a vibration motor.

Vibration motor

You can use a vibration motor in different ways, in the simplest case, it can become the main part of the simplest vibro-robot. The basis of such a robot is a foil-coated fiberglass board, approximately 40 x 10 mm in size.

Two holes are made in the board, one for installing the battery, the other for the eccentric of the vibration motor. In fact, the board consists of two supply conductors from the power supply to the terminals of the vibration motor.

From the bottom side, “legs” made of some elastic material, for example, a foamed polymer (polyurethane foam, microporous rubber, etc.), are glued to the “body” of the robot.

The vibration motor is fixed with epoxy plasticine.

The contacts for the battery are made of brass foil.

Thus, we get the simplest design, which, due to the unequal height of its supports, irregularities and the slope of the surface, will write out intricate trajectories. However, the vibrobot can be complicated, for example, made to follow a line.

LCD screen

In addition to the vibration motor, an LCD screen can be used. It can be difficult to track down the technical documentation for this particular screen. But due to the peculiarities of the physics of work, any liquid crystal screen has films that polarize light.

Light polarization is a phenomenon that proves that electromagnetic (and, as a special case, light) waves are transverse, that is, the vectors characterizing the electric and magnetic components of an electromagnetic wave are always directed perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. An example of mechanical shear waves is waves on the surface of water, where the liquid vibrates up and down, while the wave propagates horizontally. Without going into the physics of wave phenomena, I will simply note that in addition to transverse waves, there are longitudinal ones, an example of which can be sound waves. In longitudinal waves, particles vibrate along the direction of wave propagation. However, you can read about all this in a good physics textbook, or at least here.

Now it is important for us that the coating of the liquid crystal screen can polarize light, i.e. from all possible electromagnetic oscillations to choose only waves oriented in a certain way. Thus, the polarizer immediately attenuates natural light by half.





After passing through the polarizer in the light beam, only waves remained, oscillating in a certain plane. Now, if you place another polarizing film (called the analyzer) in the path of the light beam, then by changing the mutual orientation of the polarizer and the analyzer, you can smoothly change the brightness of the light beam. In the last photo, the light source is not completely extinguished, which indicates incomplete polarization of the light. The laser beam is initially completely polarized, so no analyzer is needed to change its brightness. As for the practical application of this phenomenon, they are quite diverse. For example, reflected light is almost always partially polarized, so glasses with polarizers or a polarizing filter on a camera lens greatly reduce glare.

Literature

  1. http://radiokot.ru/articles/68/
  2. http://elwo.ru/publ/skhemy_okhrannykh_ustrojstv/okhrannaja_signalizacija_gsm_svoimi_rukami/18-1-0-427
  3. http: // website / publ / mobilniki / okhrannaja_signalizacija_s_mobilnym_telefonom / 19-1-0-437
  4. http://elwo.ru/publ/skhemy_okhrannykh_ustrojstv/okhranno_pozharnaja_signalizacija/18-1-0-455
  5. http: // site / publ / mobilniki / gsm_proslushka / 19-1-0-177
  6. http: // site / publ / mobilniki / mobilnyj_zhuchek / 19-1-0-322
  7. Mamichev D. Vibrokhod. Radio Magazine No. 6 2013 p.49
  8. Mamichev D. Vibro walk along the line. Radio Magazine No. 11 2013 p.49-50
  9. Dmitriev A.S. The laws of physics in everyday life. M .: Book house "LIBROKOM", 2013. - 244 p.
  10. Elementary physics course: Textbook. Benefit. In 3 volumes / Ed. acad. GS Landsberg: T. 3. Oscillations and waves. Optics. Atomic and Nuclear Physics. - 13th ed. - M .: FIZMATLIT, 2006 .-- P. 367 - 372.
  11. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_Polarization

The material was prepared specifically for the site. If you have any additions, write to the conference. Denev

Discuss the article WHAT CAN BE DONE FROM OLD PHONES

The joy of buying a new model of a mobile phone usually goes away after a few months, when you begin to notice that most of your acquaintances have got one. This can be frustrating. For those who pretend to be original in everything, there are only 2 ways out: either buy another novelty (which will suffer the same fate in a month or two), or think about how to make your phone truly unique, namely, about tuning it.

How to make your phone unique

Industrial tuning Mobile tattoo

Manufacturers became interested in the problem of individualization of mobile phones back in the late 90s of the last century. Logos and melodies became the first signs that bring at least some variety to the world of "gray bricks". However, if the picture on the display in most cases could be seen only by the owner of the device, then the original melody already aroused the surprise of those around. Then came the time for accessories: a huge number of covers, handbags, laces, etc. attributes filled the store shelves.

Of course, it can be argued that, first of all, in a phone, its functionality is important - and we agree with this one hundred percent. But stubborn statistics show that about 20% of men and more than half of women first of all pay attention to the appearance of the apparatus. Nonsense? By no means, rather, this is the attempt of every mobile user to stand out from the huge number of their own kind. For this reason, we decided today to address the problem of mobile tuning, which allows you to achieve the almost impossible - to make your phone unique and inimitable.

Industrial tuning or Limited Edition

The pioneers of mobile tuning were fashion phones, which, due to their appearance and the corresponding price, could not be available to everyone. So the owner of such a device automatically stood out from the crowd. However, over time, this approach has exhausted itself - for example, the clamshell form factor, which was once the last peep of mobile fashion, today has become a mass phenomenon and is not surprising, and the price level of fashion devices has significantly decreased (although there are exceptions, to for example, the Vertu line). Therefore, the main method of industrial tuning was the release of serial phones with a unique appearance, or Limited Edition.

The simplest way is to draw on the body

Initially, manufacturers went directly, starting to decorate their phones with precious stones or offer custom colors (for example, hand-painted in Palekh). The first-born here was Diamond Motorola worth 45 thousand dollars, which can hardly be called a phone - it is, rather, a piece of jewelry. As for Siemens, it managed to release "limited editions" of its serial phones for almost all projects in which it sponsored (football - Real Madrid, Formula 1 - McLarren Mercedes, cars - Porsche, etc.). However, then the manufacturers became convinced that it was best to give the design development to those who know a lot about it, that is, famous couturiers, fashion houses, etc. The consequence of this was the appearance of small batches of phones, in which the tuning was performed initially.

Sometimes manufacturers cooperate with jewelers - like Siemens with Escada

Examples include Samsung Anna Sui or Siemens SL65 Escada Limited Edition. The first device is built on the basis of the serial model e315, but differs in appearance, special delivery set (cosmetic bag, hair clip, lipstick, etc.) and thematic content. As for the fruit of cooperation between Siemens and Escada, this time the serial model is "ennobled" with Swarovski crystals and three strands of pearls. The circulation is 5000 pieces, the cost in Russia is about 30 thousand rubles. You can't say anything, professional tuning, but very expensive.

We change clothes ...

Probably the most affordable way of mobile tuning is to change the appearance of the phone using interchangeable panels. It is curious that the presence of this possibility in almost 90 percent of modern devices has sharply reduced the demand for all kinds of cases and handbags. No, these accessories have not stopped buying, they just began to play their main role (protection of the phone and ease of wearing). The focus has shifted from the case to the phone itself.

Nokia launches premium phones that are easy to change

For the first time such models were presented on the Russian market by Nokia (and the term Xpress-on also appeared at its suggestion), and today phones that support panel replacement are in the arsenal of any manufacturer. By the way, we hasten to reassure you that the first "clamshell" with replaceable panels appeared in Korea. This is not so, the first place belongs to the American company Motorola, but LG, Samsung and others have released similar devices a little later. We think it makes no sense to describe the process of replacing the panels. In most cases, the kit is a front and back panel. But even this is enough to change the face of the phone beyond recognition.

Chinese manufacturers produce many simple but colorful cases for all cell phone models

When choosing panels, many users often face the problem of which one to buy - original or non-original. It is difficult to give unambiguous advice here. Of course, the original panel from the phone manufacturer will be of better quality - but also more expensive. It is not even worth paying attention to the "fakes" of unknown (or little-known) manufacturers of clearly Chinese origin, the appearance of cracks and streaks after a while is a common thing. However, in recent years in Russia, panels of third-party manufacturers with excellent quality begin to appear, and many serious salons selling accessories are rejecting the obvious "cheapness". In addition, the variety of colors is also a clear plus for third-party manufacturers.

However, you shouldn't assume that the socket is just a piece of plastic. Even at the dawn of this trend, Nokia offered iridescent or fluorescent panels. An unforgettable sight, especially in the dark. You can also mention a phenomenon that has recently come to us from Europe - self-adhesive glowing stickers (or holograms). And here unlimited possibilities open up for the user, who, with the help of his imagination and ordinary scissors, can turn a standard nondescript case into a work of art in a single copy. The main thing is not to overdo it.

Imitation leather or fabric - the main means of individualization

The next stage in the evolution in “dressing up” mobile phones is interchangeable casings, which differ from interchangeable panels in that they change not only the color, but also the shape of the phone. True, this direction is just in its infancy, and we managed to find a single phone for which 12 such shells have already been prepared. This is the Toshiba V501T device, which recently appeared in the model range of the operator Vodafone Japan (PDC standard). It is too early to say whether this innovation will reach Russia, but judging by the photographs, it is worthwhile - teenagers will be delighted.

Mobile tattoo

However, all of the above is, although it was released in a limited edition, but still consumer goods. The likelihood of coming face to face with a similar apparatus is low, but still exists. If you need one hundred percent exclusive, then you will have to turn to manual work, that is, airbrushing. In general, airbrushing is understood as the technique of drawing a picture with an airbrush on any surface. An airbrush is a special pen with replaceable cartridges, which are filled with paint of the corresponding color. Something this design looks like a spray gun, only more refined.

The artist's main weapon on a mobile phone is an airbrush

You understand that decorating a mobile phone is not painting a wall, and therefore an airbrush has a very narrow nozzle and allows you to adjust the spray spectrum over a very wide range. So it is not difficult to apply a thin stroke (less than a millimeter thick) to them. Let's make a reservation right away that an airbrush (as well as a brush) is an artist's working tool, and therefore it is not worth trying to put a drawing on the phone without proper practice. The creations we have seen are striking in their realism and brilliance, and the quality essentially depends on the artist's talent.

And this is what comes of it

What can be painted on a mobile phone? First of all, these are the same panels, only this time it doesn't matter whether they are removable or not. Also, you can safely substitute the side and end panels, display bezel, etc. under the airbrush nozzle. The display matrix and camera optics always remain intact (well, that's understandable why), and the keyboard keys and additional buttons are very rarely affected. Airbrushing the keyboard is aerobatics, since special paints are required to provide transparency (for backlighting) and wear resistance.

The process itself consists of several stages. First of all, of course, the style and theme of the image are developed. In our opinion, the final result will significantly depend on the correct choice. The rest is a matter of technique (and talent, of course). First, the working surfaces are prepared: they are made matte with the help of abrasive materials, all kinds of defects are straightened with putty, soil, etc. Next, a drawing is applied directly, which must be varnished and polished.

Sometimes the picture may not be unusual.

If you really want to try it yourself, then please, here's a recipe for beginners. Buy a cheap set of interchangeable panels (it won't work - it's not a pity to throw it away) and a set for European manicure (you shouldn't take French - there are no interesting drawings there). We prepare the surface of the panels in accordance with the above recommendations, then "do a manicure", the technology is usually painted on the package. First, the base, then the drawing (that is, the stickers included in the kit) and on top of it - varnish. Let it dry, and you're done. True, after a few days of active use of the phone, all this so-called "beauty" will come to naught, but the first experience, perhaps, will push you to do more.

Hardware tuning

Another type of tuning that we would like to talk about is hardware tuning. However, we note right away that such a "modernization" of the phone (you can call it an upgrade) deprives the owner of the device of any guarantees. As they say, at your own peril and risk. The range of possibilities offered here is very wide, so we will try to draw the line between reality and deception (and there is enough of this).

A simple and quite effective way to change the look of your phone is to change the backlight. In most devices, several LEDs are responsible for highlighting the display or keys, and an advanced radio amateur can replace a couple of light-emitting elements of a boring color with something fresh. The main thing is to choose the right elements themselves and very carefully solder / solder them.

But here, too, one should not cross the borders. Once we came across a phone with multicolored LEDs. The effect is, of course, amazing, but the practicality, as you would expect, has been seriously affected. If you really need the phone to shine with all the colors of the rainbow, it is better to immediately purchase such a device (Samsung and LG have been using seven-color indicators for a long time), as a last resort, you can buy a special key fob that will demonstrate the same capabilities with an incoming or outgoing call.

The simplest possibility is to build in a multi-colored backlight

As for a more serious phone upgrade, in our opinion, most of the proposals posted on the Web should be treated with at least suspicion. We will not argue that it is impossible to expand the memory capacity of Motorola C650 to 32 MB (cost about 2000 rubles) or, even better, install a memory card slot in Sony Ericsson K700 (cost about $ 100). Theoretically, it is possible, but wouldn't it be easier to buy a "normal" phone right away and not do nonsense. Moreover, this is not so profitable, but about any stability of work (in such cases, the proprietary software of the phone changes to homemade) and it is not necessary to speak.

The only successful "material" for such experiments can be considered the 55th series of Siemens phones. Well, let's say, everyone has probably heard about the fact that the A55 can be easily converted into the C55. It turns out that the Germans were too lazy to develop separate hardware platforms, and the difference lies in the firmware. More tricky is the doubling of memory in the S55. First, you need to make sure that the appropriate chip is installed in your copy (its marking and batch numbers in which it is used can be easily found on the Web), then all that remains is to rewire the necessary contacts and update the software. The whole question is, is the game worth the candle?

Everyone - on the original phone!

Summing up, we want to note that mobile tuning is not so useless as it seems. Of course, for many, a phone is, first of all, a means of communication, and they will not agree to change the original appearance of the phone (especially if it is an image model that emphasizes the status of the owner). We fully agree with this approach, although the growing popularity of various ways of personalizing phones suggests the opposite. So, at the Expo Comm Wireless Korea exhibition held in May this year, mobile tuning became one of the main topics. In view of the absence (we hope so far) of such events in our country, let us draw your attention to two ideas that aroused the greatest interest. The first of them is airbrushing, and we talked about it in detail. The second very curious idea came from the pen of the Cozip company. We are talking about decorative panels, which, moreover, protect the phone from mechanical damage.

The trend is evident, and we have no doubt that the time will come for unlimited individualization. Having thought about buying a new phone, we will not choose one of the many, we will create our own. The time is approaching when everyone will be able to choose "their own face" in the mobile world.