Teardown Flic Smart Button

2017-02-13 | By All About Circuits

License: See Original Project

Courtesy of All About Circuits

In this teardown, we will look inside the Flic button, a wireless shortcut button that can be made to do many tasks such as replenish stock, control systems, and even functions as a panic button.

The Outside

The flic is a molded plastic button that has a rubber (possibly silicon) outer membrane. Only one button exists on the flic button (where the flic logo is), and when pressed, a red light is emitted. Underneath the button is a plastic disc that gives the user access to the battery compartment.

The top of the button

The underside of the button

The bottom of the button removed showing QR code, battery, and basic product information

The top of the button can be removed with a small amount of prying with a flathead screwdriver. With the top removed, the main PCB can be seen as along with the LED that glows when the button is pressed, as well as the metal tactile switch.

The top removed from the button

The main PCB exposed from the topside

The Main PCB

With a little elbow grease, the main PCB was removed revealing a PCB with components on both sides. The topside PCB also has a thin piece of plastic which is most likely there to prevent damage to the surface components when the button is pressed and exposed to moisture.

The topside of the PCB

Removing the plastic sheet on the topside also removes the tactile button

The first IC on the topside of the PCB that could be seen was the 2FCHMC5AW which could not be identified. The IC itself has 8 pins and is in close proximity to another IC that may be the main controller. This suggests that this IC is some form of serial flash memory which is needed to store information such as network SSIDs, passwords, network configuration, and the function of the device itself.

The 2FCHMC5AW IC (Probable Flash Memory)

The second IC on the top side is the Dialog DA14580 which is the “world’s smallest and lowest power integrated Bluetooth microcontroller” (quoted from Dialog’s website). Features that the microcontroller has integrated include a 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 processor, 84KB ROM, 48K RAM, Radio transceiver, UART, I2C, SPI, and ADC. Some of the power features include the ability to run the IC from coin batteries, 4.9mA radio consumption current, and -93 dBm reception sensitivity.

The main controller, the Dialog DA14580

The main IC, possible flash, and oscillator module on the left of the main IC

The third IC (unidentifiable)

PCB Underside

The underside of the PCB shows several features including a QR code, battery holder for a coin cell, logo, and many stitching via. If observed closely, it can be seen that there is a lack of a flood plain on the top of the PCB edge. This is most likely due to the need for a PCB antenna that is found either on the top layer or the inner layers. This PCB is most likely a 4-layer PCB due to the lack of traces on the bottom side. The chance of getting the entire PCB routed on one layer is unlikely. Having said that, the way that ICs are going (smaller, fewer pins) there may come a time when entire Wi-Fi systems can be routed on one layer.

The underside of the PCB

Summary

The Flic button demonstrates how modern electronics are becoming more complex internally but more simplistic externally. Instead of needing many ICs for a product to function, many chips are becoming increasingly integrated (SoCs) and complex allowing for fewer external parts. This also shows the importance of programming over hardware design where future designs may only need basic power regulation and EMC control. All in all, tearing down the flic button was a real treat with many interesting finds! You can see its layout below:

Mfr Part # DA14580-01UNA

IC RF TXRX+MCU BLE 34WLCSP

Renesas Electronics Corporation

42,31 kr

View More Details

Add all DigiKey Parts to Cart