MFLB Mission Control -- lithium ion for your launch box

frieburd

Member
Accessory Maker
Greetings fc members and lurkers.


This is my first post here, so an intro is in order. I'm a software developer by trade, having spent the last 25 or so years at various companies in the SF Bay Area. Prior to that I was a US Navy submariner with extensive training in computers and communications electronics. As a programmer, many of my projects were pretty "close to the metal", and I've had lots of fun helping the EE's with their bugs at times and messing with logic analyzers, but I've never actually done real EE type work (i.e. hardware design). It's something that's been lurking within me for quite some time now...


I've recently relocated to the northern Sierras and have lots of spare time. This is always where trouble starts :-) Me and my mflb became very close. Like just about anything you spend lots of time with, you begin to notice flaws. Basically, I had too many batteries and was not much into their juggling act.


So now I'd like to share with you my creation. I've been using an early prototype for a couple months. It seems to work well and I feel that there are probably others out there that would find it useful. It's formal name is "MFLB Mission Control", but I'll just use mc (or mflbmc) from here on. Here's the lowdown:


- 2 18650 cells (Samsung 25R, user replacable/upgradable)

- cnc routed maple and acrylic enclosure

- custom pcb including usb charging (1000mA) and full battery protection features

- 5 led battery level indication

- runtime equivalent to roughly 6-7 glyph NiMH batteries


I've just put 10 units up on ebay, search for it by name. 30-day money back, 90-day defect warranty. I welcome any questions and feedback.

warm regards, frieburd

picture:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4HYNWi5SMuJQjQ3UVVnR0s0dTA
 
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Thanks for your service. This sort of ingenuity reminds me of a story I heard where the copier on a Los Angeles-class boat broke and they cast a new gear out of resin using a soap mold. I'm not an MFLB user but this thing is rad.
 

alterego420

Well-Known Member
Thanks needalift.

I wish you success with these @frieburd, it looks like a great little gadget.

Unfortunately, I'm both skint and in the UK so I won't be ordering one this time around. But here's hoping for the future.
 
alterego420,

frieburd

Member
Accessory Maker
Thanks to all for the kind sentiments. Designing and building this was a lot of work and I enjoyed it immensely. To those that have taken the plunge, I just shipped them. I hope they find you well.
 
frieburd,

broski28

New Member
Thank you so much for taking the time to create this. I really want to buy one and i probably will lol but im a heavy user and I'm really going to push the limits to this device. Is this durable? I use an external charger to preserve the longevity of the 18650 could you add a door in the back for sole external charging? I'm not criticizing whatsoever because I could never construct something of this magnitude and having the ability is amazing thank you for your service!
 
broski28,

RUDE BOY

Space is the Place
Cool, when i get home later this evening and on my own computer I'll grab one if they're still there.
 
RUDE BOY,

Fat Freddy

FUCK CANCER TOO !
Hey Frieburd,

Congrats! For someone like myself who has little understanding of what I'm looking at on the screen, I was hoping you might elaborate on how this device interfaces with the MFLB?

Thanks muchly,

FFF
 
Fat Freddy,

frieburd

Member
Accessory Maker
Hi FFF, The device emulates the NiMH battery electrically and physically. You simply slide the MFLB onto it and it stays put via friction the same way the NiMH battery stays inserted, although it bypasses the rubber donut inside the MFLB so that you don't need to squeeze the two together as you do with the NiMH. There is a button on the device to start/stop it from supplying electricity. Very simple to use and behaves like a really long lasting NiMH.
 
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