DrinkMate works with Android Smartphones – now on Kickstarter
Nearly every day a record breaking crowdfunding campaign catches the attention of the world with new devices that meld the worlds of software with hardware. And one key player in this (r)evolution is 3D printing. The DrinkMate project, now on Kickstarter is one of those projects and thanks to Sculpteo’s services, DrinkMate’s team has been able to prototype, manufacture and ship the new product at a reasonable cost for a small company.
Be safe and make the right decisions. That’s the inspiration behind the new DrinkMate, printed in 3D by Sculpteo. It’s the smallest breathalyzer in the world and plugs into your Android smartphone to display your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) on the screen.
The Cost of a DUI in California? A minimum of $45,435 for a teen’s first DUI
According to the CourtInfo website for the state of California http://www2.courtinfo.ca.gov/stopteendui/parents/cost/how-much-does-a-dui-cost.cfm here’s what you can expect if you or your teenager gets popped with a DUI conviction.
“The financial cost of a teen’s first DUI is staggering. Here’s the breakdown, but keep in mind that this is just the bare minimum. This list doesn’t include costs if someone is killed—or the guilt your teen will live with for the rest of his or her life.
Cost of annual auto insurance increase over 13 years $40,000
DUI classes $650
Towing and storage fee ($137 a day) $685 (at least 5 days)
Fines and attorney fees $4,000
DMV reinstatement fee $100
Estimated Minimum total $45,435
“Remember that these fees are the least you would pay. They don’t include hospital care for the person your teen hurt, the emotional and physical costs, the inability to get a job because of the DUI record, or the award from any lawsuit resulting from a death. Altogether, those costs could total millions of dollars.
“The time spent dealing with the consequences resulting from a DUI is time lost in a teen’s life, keeping your teen from reaching his or her goals. Here’s the time breakdown.
Average time of license suspension 3 months for adults, 12 months for teens
Average time in jail 6 months
Average years on probation 3 years
Number of years with two points on driving record 13 years
DUI classes 6 months
Time in court Several months
Convicted of murder Possible lifetime imprisonment
Plus, can you imagine your teen being handicapped or maimed? Suffering a lifetime of guilt and pain because of harming or killing someone? Having trouble getting a good job or getting into college because of a DUI conviction?
In a nutshell, your teen’s drinking and driving could cause you to:
Pay fines and fees of more than $55,000;
Pay huge increases in insurance premiums;
Pay for a costly and time-consuming alcohol abuse program for your teen; and
Have a teen with a criminal record for a DUI.
DUI penalties for those 21 years and older also can be severe. They include:
Mandatory jail time;
Substantial fines and fees;
Suspension or revocation of driver’s license;
Restrictions on when and for what purposes one may drive;
Being assigned to an alcohol or drug treatment program;
Installation of an ignition interlock devise on a car; and
Impoundment of a car.
A first DUI offense requires an adult offender to be:
Jailed for at least 48 hours;
Fined substantially;
Restricted to driving only to and from work or an alcohol treatment program;
Ordered to attend a three-month or six-month alcohol treatment program;
Required to file proof of insurance with the Department of Motor Vehicles; and
Required to have an ignition interlock device (IID) installed on one’s vehicle. The person must blow into the IID to check his or her BAC each time the car is started. Maintenance costs for the IID are paid by the offender.”
What’s it cost for a DrinkMate? $25.
DrinkMate’s Kickstarter price brackets are listed below. Any shipping to a USA address is included in the price. International shipping is included in the flat rate add-on for each tier.
1 DrinkMate – $25 ($33 international)
2 DrinkMates – $48 ($60 international)
4 DrinkMates – $95 ($110 international)
10 DrinkMates – $235 ($255 international)
All DrinkMates come with a free carrying case if the buyer shares the Kickstarter page on Facebook or Twitter.
A breathalyzer you can put in your pocket, smaller than any lipstick
Two people have been involved in this adventure: Shaun Masavage, an Electromechanical Engineer who devised the hardware and Mack Redding, another engineer who was in charge of creating DrinkMate’s app.
To be able to design such a small breathalyzer, its creators had to start from scratch. Shaun explains: “We knew that to make a new breakthrough in size reduction, we couldn’t have any bias from existing larger designs. That’s we ended up with a prototype, smaller than any lipstick, and that fits in all pockets. But a lot of work still had to be done.
“I’m a hardware guy and creating dazzling prototypes for ideas is in my DNA. However, the steps afterwards are not trivial by any means. The gap between prototype and product is immense, intimidating, and stops the overwhelming majority of inventors from bringing their ideas to market.”
3D printing by Sculpteo made the product a reality
“I knew that if I were to make DrinkMate a reality, I needed to have a 100% final design in my hands to test with, especially with regards to the plastic enclosure to ensure that any future plastic injection molded components would work properly. Filing, drilling, and carving an enclosure by hand was out of the question for the complex curves, hollow areas, and twists needed.
“The solution: Sculpteo 3D printed enclosures. The prints were dimensionally accurate enough to drop my circuit board right inside with no wiggle room whatsoever. I then snapped the two pieces together, popped the cap on, and threw a label on the side. Voilà!
“Sculpteo even offered Batch printing for my final round of 40 samples where the unit cost dropped by almost 70% each.
“Thanks to 3D Printing and Sculpteo’s services, bootstrapped aspiring entrepreneurs such as us are able to turn their ideas into reality.”
About DrinkMate
Be safe and make the right decisions. That’s the inspiration behind the new 3D printed DrinkMate, the smallest breathalyzer in the world and it plugs into your Android smartphone to display your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) on screen.
The breathalyzer market desperately needed some innovation to make these life-saving tools more accessible. DrinkMate’s design targets a price point that’s more affordable to a significantly larger number of people. The idea is that its size and convenience will enco
urage sharing among peers and increase the general awareness of the amount of alcohol being consumed. We want to turn the typically negative stigma surrounding peer pressure into a positive life-saving tool.
By interfacing with an app, we can customize the DrinkMate experience and tailor it to each user. We can add and update features to allow things such as BAC tracking and logging of results for side-by-side comparison of BAC vs. drink/food consumption. People will be able to learn how they personally react to different drinking scenarios and learn how to make better and safer decisions in the future.
The company is based in Washington, DC. For more information visit: http://www.edgetechlabs.com/drinkmate-gallery/