Loctor's IR Pen Part II

First, I must apologise to Loctor as I really have forgotten about his IR Pen. It was done months ago but because of work (usual excuse, la) the project was backshelved into some unknown void. But anyway, by stroke of luck, I found it again. The reason why it was stalled was because I was looking for the ideal pen to be the host for the project. And so, there in lies the dilemma.

Shape
To creat the IR pen is actually very simple. All you need is a battery, a switch, an IR LED and also an current limiting resistor. The main problem is to fit all of them into a pen. And not just any pen. If Engineering was to have a say, it would be function over design. And so, technically, I could just disembowel a marker pen and just stuff it with electronics. But no, this is not good enough for the Loctor (because I say so).

The reason saying is, when it comes to writing, the shape of the pen must be ergonomical enough so that one can write comfortably. Using the marker pen is like wank......er, I mean, just very tiring. And so, by luck, I found a normal pen for him.

Button
The IR LED in the pen activates only when the user needs to "write" something. Of course, I could redesign the tip of the pen to have a spring loaded switch where when the tip of the LED lens is pressed, it would complete the circuit and light the IR LED. However, knowing the available technology R&D for the coomon Joe in Malaysia, this is not possible, nor even feasible. And so, poor old Loctor needs to press harder with his finger which might or might not compromise his fingering activities with a certain Ms. Nikon.

And so, I present you, the victi....er, pen.
Originally, it was used to mark stuff with
the invisible ink which you can only see
with the Ultra-violet LED at the tip.

Unfortunately, it only comes in pink.
Which for Loctor's case, who have
just been rehabililated, it might've
send a wrong signal to certain
group of people........

Fortunately or unfortunately, the invisible ink
has dried even when it was packed into the
plastic which I suspect is not airtight. So, I
cannot test if the ink really works as claimed.

The tip taken apart. All you need to do is just
unscrew the tip and pull out the module. You
can see how simple it is.

Now, all I have to do is to take the IR LED and
bend and cut its legs like the original UV LED.

There. All done! All I have to do now, is to
put this back into the pen and perform a
few tests to make sure its working.

Just test it with the IR detector and yes, it works.
You cannot see the infra-red with the naked eyes
but your digital devices can. All you need to do is
to point it to your digital video camera and you'll
see the IR light as their sensors are sensitive to
the visual spectrum beyond the human eye.

And now, for the egonomic test. Yes, its nice to
write but personally, I prefer a thicker shaf.....er,
diameter.

And this IR Pen also meets the Kristine seal of
approval for cuteness. (OK, I wanted her to do
the Ultraman stance but since she doesn't have
an Ultraman costume, this will have to do)

And now, how the heck am I going to get it to Loctor's hands in Prai???

Does he want another pen???

How???

How???

Aiyoh!!!