Introduction
As we are gearing up to debut Season 3 of our newest YouTube series with Digikey, Potentially Genius, in early 2024 – we are revisiting (and celebrating!) two of our most watched YouTube videos from our old series, “The Teardown.”
Episodes
And the first winner is…. “Vapes Teardown (what’s inside and how do they work)?” with over 78,000 views!
This star episode features Tomorrow Lab’s founders Ted and Pepin, along with electronics expert Joe Saavedra of Infinite Objects. The trio explore a range of vaporizers (keep in mind, this is back from 2018, a lot has changed in the market since then — sounds like a great follow up opportunity, no?!), and discuss their key differences.
Main Differences between each:
Dosist – Dose Pen
- uses cannabinoid oil cartridges
- has a vibration motor inside
- functions like a syringe dropper
- uses an atomizer coil as the heating element, connected to poles of the battery
- at the very end, there is a small, clear LED so the user can see the vapor actually being “pulled” through the device. (for those who may be unfamiliar with the term pulling, it references the four to six second long inhalation and exhalation of letting the vape enter the mouth by way of the intended mouthpiece.)
Juul – Juul (note, in order to see their products, you must create an account and have your age verified)
- uses nicotine oil cartridges
- has a sleek, easy to understand design aesthetic
- has 200 milliamp hour battery capacity
- Spin-off company from Pax Labs
Pax Labs – Pax2 (the Pax2 is no longer available, but has been updated to the Pax Plus)
- holds dried leaf or flower, for tobacco or cannabis respectively, in an internal chamber rather than an oil cartridges
- has the most considered industrial design
- has a 300 milliamp hour battery capacity
They chose the Pax2 to take fully apart and inspect the most interesting features. First Pepin removed the mouthpiece, then unscrewed a fastener on the back middle of the aluminum housing, which allowed for the full internal contents to pop right out! The cylindrical insides revealed a giant battery, LEDs of various sizes, a few PCBs, a charging flex cable and a heating element.
There were two stand out features: the LEDs and heating element. The cleverly designed light pipe (shaped like a rainbow) enables the LEDS to create fantastic animations on the front face of the device. Additionally,there is a motion sensor that turns on “party mode” when the device is shaken. This causes the LEDs to do a little dance for you in rainbow colors. What was not mentioned in the video, is that the LED colors change depending on the mode: red for warming, green for when ready to use, and the four small cut outs indicate the battery life, lighting up all four when fully charged, down to one when low. The resistance heater, located at the bottom of the device, is wrapped around five of the six sides of the chamber, like a tiny electric blanket. On the outside of the heater is insulative batting to keep the heat isolated to the chamber. A welded steel tube then connects the oven-like chamber to the mouthpiece.
We loved Ted and Joe’s idea of creating products that sit in between the atomizer and the mouthpiece of the cartridge, to take advantage of the airflow that happens when pulling on the vape. This would work like a whistle to create many types of sounds …Vape Tones! Or what about a light pipe that routes LEDs all the way down the side of the housing, that could change colors when pulling? Or the sound could start low, and get louder the harder the user pulls. All fun food for thought!
And the second winner is…. “Otamatone Teardown” with over 14,000 views!
This absolutely silly episode features Tomorrow Lab founders Ted and Pepin, exploring the internal contents of the Japanese Otamatone musical instrument meant to simulate a saxophone. And how could we not remind everyone of the classic, saxophone forward song by George Michael, Careless Whisper; side note – if you have never seen the infamous early YouTube video of the mall saxophone player who just can’t get enough of this song, it’ll definitely give you a laugh! (The Otamatone was designed by the firm Maywa Denki for the toy company Cube Works. )
Feature Highlights of the Otamatone:
- The design has not changed since its creation in the 1990s – so many screws!
- It takes three AAA batteries, all oriented with the positive ends right side up, which indicates that the designers put a little extra care into the design
- No glue!
- Rubber gaskets are used for controlled turning resistance
- Two layered soft potentiometer changes the resistance depending on where you press it along its length
- A stiffer plastic layer on top helps to smooth out the interaction with the potentiometer by increasing the amount of pressing force needed to change the resistance
- Adjusting the resistance adjusts the tone to play different notes!
- Inexpensive, but lovely looking speaker, similar to ones used in a greeting card
They then go over each individual part that was torn down, and explain what each part does. They explain the housing, mechanical parts and electrical components.
We were happy to see so many comments on this episode expressing interest and thanks for tearing this little guy down!
We hope you enjoyed going down memory lane with us!
For a more up to date analysis of the cannabis market, check out these two smart storage ideas:
New Ideas for Cannabis Solutions: Smart Grinders
New Ideas for Cannabis Solutions: Smart Storage
If you loved the Otamatone episode, check out our Potentially Genius Season One episode all about creating a musical instrument specifically for kids!
And if you have an idea for a new hardware product in the cannabis or music space, get in touch with us here for a free consultation!
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