Reverse Engineering:

Dancing Flower
By Michelle Frid, Tyler Colenbrander, Alexa
Funahashi, and Sophia Galleguillos
 ● Sold by Dollar Tree
Dancing Flower (discontinued)
Overview ● Modeled after the Flip-Flap
made by the toy production
company Tomy
● Tomy holds the original patent
○ Chinese company bought
copyrights
○ Sells fake flip-flap
dancing flower pots in the
US and EU
Functional Analysis
How it Works
Two cell solar panel
collects energy from
sun
Energy is stored
into a 10 volt,
470 µF capacitor,
connected to a
circuit board
Circuit board
transfers energy to
copper coil and the
magnet swings away
in reaction to the
magnetic field
Circuit Diagram
The solar panel takes the energy that is taken
from the sun and directly gives it to the circuit
board so that the copper is directly connected
with the energy source.
Structural Analysis
System Overview ● Connections made with pins
and holes (no screws)
● Very lightweight (mostly
plastic)
● Subsystems:
○ Flower/Leaf
○ Electrical
○ Plastic Frame
Subsystem 1:
● All ABS plastic
Flower/Leaf System
● Left leaf moved by
magnetic field
● Left leaf causes
movement of stem and
right leaf (pin
connections)
Subsystem 2:
● Solar panel connected to
Electrical System
Chip-on-board in printed
circuit board
● Soldered connections
● Copper coil glued and
taped down
● Copper coil creates
magnetic field which
connects this system to
the flower
Subsystem 3:
● Flower sits in black
Plastic Frame System
plastic frame with pins
● Black plastic frame has
two pieces that fit
together
● Pink plastic pot fits
around and provides
protection
Material Analysis

Acrylonitrile
Butadiene Styrene
(ABS)
(Plastic pot, flower, inside
structure use ABS)
● Combines strength and rigidity of
acrylonitrile and styrene polymers
● Tough polybutadiene rubber
● Thermoplastic
○ can be heated to melting point,
cooled, reheated without significant
damage
○ Liquifies instead of burns
○ easy injection into molds and
recyclable
● Inexpensive
● Strong resistance to corrosive chemicals
and physical impacts
● easy to machine and fabricate
● Excellent aesthetic qualities
 ● Thickness is 1 micron
Amorphous Silicon ● Made out of layers
○ flexible stainless steel
substrate
○ black reflector film
○ red, green, blue cells
(Solar panel uses ○ transparent
amorphous silicon) conductive oxide film
● Development process
makes it less susceptible
to damage during
transport or setup
●
Layers of Amorphous Silicon
How the colored cells interact
Copper ● Electrical and thermal
conductivity
● Ductility
○ Can be stretched
into a thin wire
● Corrosion resistance
(Wires inside the pot are ● Nonmagnetic
made out of copper)
● Recyclable
Manufacturing Analysis
 ABS Plastic Emulsion process
(emulsion)
● More flexibility in product
range
● Used for more high impact
grades
ABS Plastic Continuous mass

(Continuous mass) ● Prefered method of

producing
● Less energy
requirements
● Able to produce
resins with color
○ No painting
needed
 ○ Silicon created from sand after it was out
through a furnace of 1,800 degrees

Amorphous silicon celsius then through chemical

refinement or through distillation.
■ Laser patterned
○ Backside electrodes added
■ Ingot is cut thin using a laser
■ wires are bonded to create the
module
○ Everything is laminated and cured
○ Solar panel is blackened
○ Put through simulation to test
a-Si Cell Manufacturing
 ■ Extracted from sulfide and oxide ores that
have 0.5-2% copper
Copper ■ Sulfide ores usually treated by smelting
■ Powdered using ball or rod mill
■ Froth flotation
● Powder mixed with reagents and
added to water and foaming agents
● Copper floats to top and strained
■ Oxidize liquid matte
● Burns off iron to make blister copper
○ Blister copper electrolytically
refined to make it market-grade
 ● http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.aspx?MatG
UID=3a8afcddac864d4b8f58d40570d2e5aa&ckck=1

Work Cited ● http://www.plasticsintl.com/abs.htm

● https://www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/everything-y
ou-need-to-know-about-abs-plastic

● https://copperalliance.org.uk/knowledge-base/education
/education-resources/copper-properties-applications/

● https://www.icis.com/resources/news/2007/10/18/907
1053/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene-abs-production-and-
manufacturing-process/

● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBouHRd3yEU

● https://tomy.com/copyrights

● https://www.ptonline.com/articles/purer-grade-of-abs-m
akes-for-better-parts-and-processes