Wiring the Avago AEAT-6600-T16 to the mBed (ARM Cortex-M3) via SPI:

 

Reflowing, soldering and breadboarding the Avago AEAT-6600-T16 absolute magnetic encoder:

In search of the right plastic and manufacturing process – Part 2:

After speaking with a number of vendors, various people in the Linked-In plastics groups (Plastic Experts, Polyimide & High Performance Polymers, Polyurethane Illuminati, Polyurethanes and the Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc.) and Michal Zalewski author of “Benchtop CNC manufacturing tutorial for robot builders, model makers, and other hobbyists”.  It looks like two part liquid polyurethanes with optional short or long glass or carbon fiber reinforcement is my best bet. This solution enables me to produce production parts with a simple direct pour process, e.g. no need for a large expensive press. I can use two part silicon or aluminum molds and when I start to scale production I can move to the RIM, RRIM and SRIM process.  This leaves injection molding to very large production runs.  Two part liquid polyurethanes can be purchased in liters, gallons, 50 gallon drums and by the truck load. Prices range from a few dollars to $120 a gallon.

 

First casting attempt, learning how urethanes work:

A simple, sloppy experiment used to gain some hands on exposure to the molding process, set time, temperature, part detail and part strength.  The reproduced gear is incredibly strong, when meshed with the original gear I am  unable to apply enough force with my hands to make the gear slip, bend or give. The part is lightweight and tough.  Naturally the production gear will be designed to use the minimum amount of material while providing the same strength.