I invite you to read this short update, which explains the progress in resolving pending issues with the first production samples and major changes in project logistics.

Solving Previous Technical Issues

As reported in the previous update (May 14th), we encountered difficulties in the automatic verification process with the first two production samples, which is why we decided to assemble three additional units and send them to my lab for review. Upon testing five samples, the problem was identified as an intermittent connection in the Hub’s Type-C connector when the cable flexed significantly, causing a loss of communication during testing. A subsequent review revealed that the USB Type-C DATA/PWR connector was the problem. This was a disappointing failure considering that both the prototypes and pre-production boards were tested with hundreds of disconnections to ensure their quality without encountering any problems. Between the prototypes and the production samples, the only difference was the batch and distributor of the component. The solution was to discard the suspected batch of connectors already purchased and acquire a new one through the original distributor. Additionally, we improved the automatic test to detect intermittent issues.

Tariffs and Final Process Change

By early June, it was already clear that tariffs on products shipped from China to the US would remain absurdly high (between 34% and 50%) and that it was not financially feasible for us to pay that tariff at the wholesale prices offered to Crowd Supply. For this reason, we decided to bring the parts to Ecuador for local programming, assembly, and testing before shipping them to the US at Ecuador’s lower tariff rate. Added to this was the difficulty of stabilizing production testing with the supplier and the delay this has caused in the schedule. This change was not taken lightly, as it involved setting up the line locally, finding suppliers for some components, and assuming additional logistics costs.

Production of the First Batch and Arrival of Production Material

The first batch of 115 PCBAs was produced during the month of June and it arrived at our laboratory a few days ago. During this time, we also progressed with the procurement of labels, boxes, and packaging material for the final step.

USB Insight Hub components arrive in Ecuador.

In the following days, programming, assembly, functional testing, and local packaging will begin. We estimate this will take about 20 days before shipping to Crowd Supply at some point in the first two weeks of August, which will cover all the backers’ orders.

Firmware and Software

Firmware development is complete and has been tested for the features offered in the campaign. There is plenty of room for improvement and functionality expansion but, for now, the priority has been to establish a solid foundation on which to continue building.

The OTA update guides (via Wi-Fi) and a USB programming procedure will be posted in our GitHub repository; the latter ensures that the device can recover from a faulty state in case OTA updating fails. Likewise, the JSON serial protocol built into the UIH will be made available, allowing direct interaction with the ESP32’s virtual port for reading (current, voltage, state) and control (power, data, display, etc.) of UIH functionalities. Please note that for now it is not possible to use the agent running on the host computer and communicate serially with the device, as they use the same port.

We also performed a major refactoring of the USB Enumeration Extractor agent code for Windows. The most significant changes include:

• Added support for the presence of two or more USB Insight Hub on the same computer, enabling correct detection and enumeration of each one.
• Improved filtering of the metadata for each USB node to support more device types.
• Displaying information from a node composed of up to six enumerators.
• No longer depending on third-party libraries, making the solution self-contained.
• Currently the agent is being integrated so it runs at computer startup and displays it properly in the notification area.

Multiple USB Insight Hubs connected

However, there is a considerable delay in the development of the agent for Linux and macOS. This delay is for two reasons:

• We did not want to start development in other OSs without first having a Windows version with defined requirements and that works well.
• Problems with the start of production and changes in logistical plans due to tariffs have generated unexpected costs and additional work to produce the hardware, which has negatively impacted the development of the agent for Linux and macOS. Ultimately, the agent for these systems will take longer than the delivery of the equipment.

That said, it’s important to note that if you connect a USB Insight Hub to a Linux or Mac system, it will work just fine as a regular USB 3.0 hub because the chip used for this purpose (Renesas uPD720210) has been on the market for over 10 years so the OS has the appropriate drivers. Similarly, the emulated serial port on the ESP32-S3 via USB already has widely supported drivers for the aforementioned operating systems.

There are a ton of lessons learned so far and we have tried to navigate the technical hardships and the current geopolitical roller coaster in the best possible way. We do apologize for the delay caused so far, but now that the material is in our hands it seems that we can deliver on the proposed new timeframe. Feel free to contact us via our campaign page.