My name is Chris from Pitbull Electric Skateboards.
I wanted to share two new innovations I came up with in the last couple of months.
The first is a new illuminated display grip tape. It looks just like regular grip tape, but in low light or in the dark, it doubles as an illuminated display. Currently, the prototype’s only functionality is acting as an equalizer, reacting to the ambient sounds. But future plans for this will allow it to display usefull information, such as battery status, remote signal strength, etc.
Click here for Video of the illuminated display grip tape
The second innovation I want to share is this new open mesh screen material. It is made to cover the openings on the battery enclosures, as it allows air to flow in and out, but prevents water from passing through.
Click here for Video of the Airflow Screen
These are both very new, and there is a lot of uses that I have not thought about yet. I have filed a provisional patent for each and will be continuing to develop these further.
Let me know what you think, or if you have any questions.
I can’t like that more than once man!
The only thing that would be better was if that airflow could be one way fluid wise. Let air in but water out if it gets in. It does get in after a while no matter how careful you are. Bloody amazing stuff though and I for one will follow this with interest. I don’t as a rule ride when raining but if I got caught out then that would be the perfect solution to cooling without losing water ingress integrity. Great stuff and good luck.
@b264 Get a load of this.
Are these currently available? if not when and what kind of prices are we looking at?
It would be awesome if the grip tape could be used like a battery meter
Hey thanks for your interest. Not available for purchase yet.
I am trying to get an idea of the scope of how hard it will be to make it a universal display. I’d like to be able to have a pair (male and female) of XT60 connectors that connect between the battery and esc for battery monitoring. But I want to make sure that any units sold will be compatible with future firmware upgrades and features.
Probably still approx 45 days away from being released.
Unless I receive a lot of requests for the grip tape with just the EQ function. Cost would be about $39.99. The next version will have higher resolution, and more useful functionality options, and it will of course cost a little more.
The Airflow mesh price is still being determined, and i’m not sure what sizes it will be sold in. There are a few things that I want to work out, which I think will further improve on it. But I anticipate that within the next 30 days it will be available for purchase.
I’d like to hear back from the members of this community what you all would prefer in regards to size. For example; 5x7 inch pieces?
I’m determined to keep the price very low to make it accessible for everyone, but still I dont want people to need to purchase more than they need.
I’ll need to see how much lower I can get my costs to produce the material if I do it in large volume, but it looks like a 5x7 piece would cost between $10 or $20 at the most.
I will be revealing more on the materials used in the grip tape soon.
I have not even considered “stab-testing” the air flow screen. haha. What kinds of punctures are you concerned about? Give me some suggestions on what I could subject it to and I’ll come up with some solutions. The mesh right now is pretty strong, but it’s soft and flexible (not stretchy). I doubt rocks and debris would be able to penetrate it, but if the underside of your board was used for protection in a knife fight, I’m afraid the internal components might be compromised.
But know you got me wanting to make a Kevlar version. Seriously. I’ll keep you posted on that.
I’m interested to know how the grip tape will handle constant pressure from being stepped on? I would be interested in ordering these should they become available!
You’re going to want to stay tuned. I’m going to reveal exactly how it works, what it’s made with, and even how people can make their own. A few things need to be ironed out first. So give me at least a week before that gets posted.
Thanks for your interest. The grip tape is made to be grip tape, first and foremost. So it needs to illuminate consistently while being treated/abused as regular grip tape.
It would be lame if people had to tip toe on it. When I create a product, I strive to have it benefit the user, or at the very least compliment their normal way of going about their day or activity. The panel has been made to be flexible and with stand very harsh impacts. It’s also waterproof and cannot be crushed once it is installed.
I gotta head out for a bit, but I’ll check back later to see if there are any more questions. Thanks everybody!
That is awesome and great to hear! To be able to treat it as normal grip tape and not have to worry about it breaking from normal skating use is very important. Looking forward to having it be programmable to show all the useful information and maybe some fun LED graphics as well. Looking forward to see what you come up with! hoping you can ship these internationally as well
I would love to have a version that I could just plug into an existing microcontroler and do things from there, no current sensing board or anything like that
