How to turn an Arduino-based proof of concept into a final prototype (opens in new tab)

I learned a lot about the basics with "Getting started in Electronics" by Forrest M. Mims III, it's very (very) accessible and I find the drawings very amusing.

Or else you have the Bible of the trade, or "The Art of Electronics" by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill that just came out for a third edition. It's an incredibly comprehensive guide but you'd better have some free time ahead if you want to read through it all :)

I can recommend Practical Electronics for Inventors. It is very helpful in getting practical prototypes designed pretty quick. I sometimes still refer to it when I need something simple I haven't designed in a while.

Check out Chris Gammell's Contextual Electronics course about board design with KiCad: https://contextualelectronics.com/ The KiCard course is now free and great at walking through how to use KiCad to design boards: https://contextualelectronics.com/course/kicad-tutorial/

Right. This is something that looks like the final product, but isn't ready for manufacture.

* If you run a 9V battery into a linear regulator to get 5V, there goes 55% of your energy and battery life. Consider 4 AAA cells. Work on reducing standby power consumption. When idle, put the CPU to sleep until IR is sensed. (An ATmega can do this.) Things which burn battery power when idle fail as consumer products.

* "I could (and probably should) use an ATtiny for such an application but I only had some ATMega328 in my parts bin."

* Prototype plastic things with 3D printing. Manufacture them by injection moulding. The little injection moulder at a TechShop could bang out about one box a minute. Any commercial shop can turn out thousands in a day. Making the mould is either work or expense, but you come out way ahead after a few hundred parts.

yeah I'm right in the middle of that problematic...if you have any advice I'm all ears (so to speak)!

hey thanks. I sure will add additional details along the road and probably write something else about manufacturing. Since it appears that it can be a very complicated (and costly) adventure, I contacted a local start-up incubator hoping to benefit form their expertise.