Inception
I was a second year university student when my brother lost his bag that had very valuable documents in public transport, not just once but twice. I wanted to build something for him as the problem of forgetting things was very trivial. At first, I thought of the idea to make a chain that locked the bag with the belt loop in jeans. Soon I ruled it out because of its simplicity, thinking that as an engineering student I can make something much more sophisticated. For months together I had no ideas on how to implement this. Suddenly one day when I was testing the range of my new bluetooth earphones, the idea for Hitch Tag was born. I wanted to reverse the functionality of the earphone to make a tiny device that stays silent while it's in the smartphone's range and starts beeping as soon as distance exceeds the limit. Once the idea was crystallised in my mind, I wanted to build it for everyone and not just for my brother. With time I realized the difference between projects, prototypes and products. If it was to be used by the masses then the product had to look professional and work flawlessly. It took me 3 years and a team of 5 engineers to convert this idea into reality. In 2017 the product was was launched in the largest gadget store in India.
Product Features
Hitch Tag helps you to track as well as find your belongings. The tag has an inbuilt buzzer that can be activated by using the smartphone. This can help you to find your keys in a messy room. Hitch tag is sleek and runs on a coin cell battery that can last up to 8 months. The enclosure is made from injection molded ABS and comes in three colours with pearl finish.
What can you do with the Tag?
- Get an alert in your smartphone if you forget your belongings behind like keys, wallet, backpack etc.
- Get an alert in your tag if you forget your mobile behind.
- Find keys and wallet in a messy room, just by a single tap on your mobile phone.
- Use crowd GPS to track items beyond bluetooth range.
Engineering
I used TI's CC2541 IC on the HM-10 break out board. The bluetooth circuit was programmed to maintain a low level connection with the mobile phone and track the signal strength as a background service. I designed a dual layer pcb to accommodate peripheral components like battery, buzzer and it's driving circuit. Firmware was developed in embedded C using IAR workbench and the android app was built in android studio. Numerous 3D models were designed and printed before heading on to the final injection mold. Making a market ready consumer electronics product has multiple challenges attached with it.
Critical issues that I had to solve were:
- False alarms due to data packet loss
- Reduced range due to bad antenna design.
- Battery life, bringing quiescent state current down
- Product dimensions; accommodating all components while reducing the overall thickness
Demo Video
When I am travelling, I am always paranoid about losing my bag, wallet or passport while some people are worried about their phones getting stolen. Hitch Tag is a solution for this, connect one to your keychain or slip one in your purse and it will be on your radar now. This is a very old video which was made just to put forward the concept and applications of Hitch Tag. The video shows above mentioned features of the tag.
Product Design
After going through hundreds of rough concepts, a design with two hockey-stick shaped undercuts was finalized. I learnt how to make snap fits and draft angles into the design such that it will be possible to create a mold for it. The bottom case had boss extrusions to hold the PCB in place. Fillets on the edges were created to make it easy to hold in hands. Side walls had slits to access the on-off button and provide an opening for the buzzer. Screen printing was used to label the enclosures with the company's logo. A beautiful package was designed with a window covered with OHP sheet. A 100GSM paper was stamped to have 5 cuts and 3 folds to act as a holder for the tag when it was placed inside the box. I loved the experience of getting in touch with so many designers, manufacturers and engineers who taught me how it's done at a professional level.
Texas Instrument's Bluetooth Low energy IC CC2541 was used in Hitch Tag.
New versions were designed to be more user friendly and compact.
The android app was designed to provide visuals and intutive user experience.
The android app was designed to provide visuals and intuitive user experience.