Project update 3 of 5
Thank you for your support! We achieved our funding goal and much more! During the campaign, we received many encouraging emails from you, and we appreciated every one. We were also featured on various websites and in the latest issue of HackSpace magazine. You can download a PDF copy of HackSpace for free, so check it out!
We had a small hiccup when procuring SPI flash chips from Winbond. The part we had been using was replaced with a new (fully compatible) part. Manufacturers do that sometimes when they improve their design or move to more a advanced technology. We worked with Kendryte to confirm that the new part is tested and certified to work with our design. Because we got an early start procuring components, all parts have now been sourced, and we’ve avoided losing valuable time.
I would like to provide some time estimates, but please note that the dates below are estimates and subject to change due to uncertainly in shipping during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After assembly, the boards will be shipped to our office in Singapore for final testing before we send them out to Crowd Supply for fulfillment. For this first batch, we want to ensure that we can fix any test setup issues in-house before we hand over our test setup to the factory for future builds.
We also started developing our manufacturing-test program. Since this is a Pi Hat, we decided to use a Raspberry PI as the main tester, and we are now working with the factory to customize a test jig to allow us to test it efficiently and safely. I hope to provide some photos in the coming updates!