Assembly
We have a video guide showing how to assemble the badge. For those who prefer a text version, keep reading.
Check what you’ve got
Your flow3r badge should’ve come in a brown paper bag, in which you will find:
The top and bottom PCBs connected together
A black plastic spacer
A round LCD display
A blue battery
A metal battery cover
Two speakers
A bag containg: 6 M3 screws, 6 plastic feet, an adhesive sheet, an allen (imbus) wrench, sandpaper
A lanyard
An instruction booklet
A 3.5 mm aux cable (to be used for badgelink/badgenet)
Prepare the top PCB
Make sure the power switch of the badge is turned off (switch towards the badge center). Be careful with switch, it is not very sturdy and breaks easily.
Disconnect the top (pink, smaller) and bottom (white, larger) PCBs. Put the bottom PCB aside for now.
Take the screen, and remove its protective film if you want. Then, install the screen onto the top PCB - first by connecting the flex cable of the screen to the corresponding connector on the board, then by seating the screen into the hole in the middle of the top PCB.
If you want, you can use a ring of adhesive from the adhesive sheet to glue the display to the top PCB, but this isn’t required.
Take the spacer and look at it closely. You’ll see one side has little notches into which the LEDs on the top PCB go. The other side has ‘speakers’ written on it. Take the spacer, and try to mate it with the top PCB. It will only go in correctly in one of the five possible orientations. Check the distance between the five metal standoffs on the top PCB and the spacer - it should be even and everything should align correctly.
Take the two speakers, and for each of them take the white adhesive protector off and glue them in the two spacer labeled as ‘speakers’. They should stick onto the PCB, with the cables facing eachother in the middle of the badge.
One the speakers are glued in, take off the spacer and route the speaker wires to the two connectors on the PCB. The cables should go around the display. Put the spacer back on top and make sure it mates correctly with the top PCB, and that it doesn’t catch the speaker wires.
Prepare the bottom PCB
Put the top PCB aside and take the bottom PCB. It has two sides: the one with components is the side that will mate with the top PCB, ‘through’ the spacer.
Take the battery and connect it to the battery connector on the bottom PCB. Route the cable through the notch on the PCB to the back of the board, where the battery will live.
Take a round piece of adhesive from the adhesive sheet and use it to glue the battery to the back. Use the metal battery cover to make sure the battery is in the right spot of the back of the PCB.
Mating the PCBs
Now it’s time to try to assemble the two PCBs together with the spacer. This can be a bit tricky, and here are some general tips we’ve found useful in doing this:
Look through the holes on the back PCB, making sure you see the threads of the standoffs of the top PCB.
Pay extra attention to the speaker and battery cables. Especially the battery cable! It has a little channel to route through in the spacer, make sure it doesn’t get caught in between the spacer and the bottom PCB.
Ensure the two board-to-board connectors are aligned. You can stare through the side of the PCB sandwich to check if things look okay.
Take five screws and the allen key and screw the two PCBs together, alongside with the metal battery case on the bottom. Be very gentle with the torque - overtorqueing the screws can rip off the standoffs on the top PCB!
Of course, if you’re not using the badge with a battery, feel free to skip the battery cover.
If you need help with routing the battery cable, you can try use the little piece of sandpaper we included in the small bag.
Finishing Touches
Thread the lanyard end bits through the top two holes in the bottom PCB (closest to the USB port, near the edge of the boar).
Take the little rubber feet from the small bag and glue them to the bottom PCB on the petals that do not have a screw head in them.