Petanque: ideal for playing at night, the “made in Toulouse” luminous jack, a victim of its own success
The pleasure of petanque with friends until the end of the night! This is the bright idea of Raphaël Paesa, an electronics technician based in Castelmaurou (Haute-Garonne), in the Toulouse area. There is a luminous jack, allowing to extend thanks to a small led bulb the summer parties of balls. After various commercialized prototypes, it has the luminous Cocholed green, a color easily detected by the human eye.
“I had this idea after an evening spent taking care of the barbecue while my friends were playing pétanque, laughing because night was falling, says Raphaël Paesa, 34 years old. I ended up really missing the game and my buddies told me that with my skills in electronics, I had to find a solution. I developed a first prototype with a 3D printer, integrating a battery and an LED, but it was not strong enough: the mechanical part was too fragile compared to the practice of pétanque. I then tested a process of hulls manufactured by plastic injection to withstand the shock of the balls. »
Last year, the Toulousain sold more than 2300 copies of Cocholed. Word of mouth between individuals has worked since, as the holidays approach, Raphaël Paesa currently has a thousand pre-orders pending, due to supply problems, in particular a package blocked for several months in the port. from Shanghai.
The Cocholed, which guarantees four hours of autonomy, is sold at a price of 13.90 euros.