Augmented tools for the people
The case parts are here. I’m starting to go through them for quality assurance, but things are looking good so far. Blank PCBs have been made and are being shipped to the assembler. Assembled boards should ship to us next month. Right now, a lot of close examination is happening. Electronics Jeremy’s been running more Continue reading Infinite detail
There’s a couple of terms people use to describe that final sample product phase before they mass produce. In hardware, you might call it the production verification test (PVT), or first articles. For Pickup we’ve borrowed a term from the music industry. The golden master is that last perfect pressing of a record or CD Continue reading Golden slumbers
Hope everyone s enjoying family time right now. I was holding onto this update because it seemed too short. Then I remembered that our long updates are about all the things that have gone wrong, and the systems that we have to navigate. No problems this time, so short it is. Mechanicals One of our bigger Continue reading 10,000 things being made
Got a shorter update than usual as we’ve mostly been waiting and managing logistics, which I’ve written enough about to bore even myself to tears. Manufacturing The factory test/programming rig got to the assembler pic along with some “golden master” boards that they can use as a working baseline. We probably have some bugs and Continue reading Things moving around the world
We’re in that lull I warned about last update. We’ve been focused on production setup, and such a range of emotions we’ve been through. Buttons Exciting! Got sample silicone buttons. They fit nicely and diffuse light well. Disappointing! The action on these is really stiff with too much travel. That’s okay—this is why we get samples. Exhausting! I’ve Continue reading Materializing
Apologies for the later update. We’ve got slow but real progress on mechanicals and production test systems. Mechanicals Another round of parts just arrived in the mail, as I try to adjust the design for MJF printing. MJF is not as stiff as the injection molded polycarbonate and doesn’t handle the fine details as well, Continue reading Button pushing
Slow progress lately. Maybe it’s the summer schedule. Maybe it’s because I’m back on the mechanical track. Multi-jet fusion: it’s different The new printed parts took a while to get to me (I suspect they had to reprint some), and I’m painstakingly measuring expected vs actual critical dimensions (an engineering term meaning the dimensions that Continue reading Granular
It’s a tentative relief to have a new plan for Pickup s case plastics settled. The other major unknown is costs from tariffs, as well as the knock-on effects on the global supply chain. This has easily been the largest number of components we’ve ever had in a project, when you consider the 8 plug-in cartridges, Continue reading Scrambling up the supply chain
We told our injection molding partner to stop tool production—if there was anything to stop—and requested our deposit back. It’s a shame. I picked a local molder because I wanted a quick iteration loop, but it turned out they didn’t have the expertise here and they ended up being an intermediary between me and a Continue reading A path forward on plastics
More on sensor cartridges—we’ve been testing, debugging and polishing, and we’re close to starting production on the circuitboards for all of these. Particulate/VOCs This one had some twists. We had planned on using a smaller particulate sensor that was announced just last year. As is often the case, the announcement comes well before the details. Continue reading Sensor party 2