T2 Samples Are Here, Plus a Way to Make Some Money!

Jul 13 2018

Backers,
We have listened to your feedback and from now on are going to try and update you more frequently with shorter updates. We appreciate the feedback, so please keep it a-coming!

Hardware updates:

A couple updates ago we discussed what a T1 is, and how the injection molding parts change and get better over time. We would now like to share with you what the same parts look like but after the tools have been refined a little bit further. Some of the tools have gone through a couple revisions and some have only gone through a very small change, but we are calling the parts pictured below "T2". They aren't perfect but are looking a whole lot better than the T1. Lots of pictures below:

A shot of all the T2 parts

Here are some of the parts we will be highlighting today. Not pictured is the display frame, but there will be pictures of that below.

Speaker grills!

We are doing durability testing on these parts to make sure there is minimal rusting and they still look great after some abuse. We also are paying attention to the pattern of the holes to make sure they are parallel with the bends. The left and the right grills are the same.

The buttons

The buttons are looking better and better, but still require some tuning. We are tuning in the light bleed around the edges of the buttons as we as the button feel when they are pressed.

Back of the buttons

Here is a picture of the back of the buttons. These black circles are called carbon pills and they make a connection with the circuit board when the button is pressed.

Speaker frame

This part is looking great and it is very close to production ready. Its job is to hold the speakers in place and seal the air volume inside the main body to produce a great sounding speaker.

Back of the speaker frame

The back of the speaker frame has the baffles we discussed in an earlier update. They turned out great and will do their job very well!

Display frame

This part is essential for creating the segmented look of the Doppler display. The circuit board goes underneath this display and a mask goes on top of it to create the segments.

Here is a quick video of one of our circuit boards going through a series of different lighting demos to demonstrate how the segments work without the display mask. There is still a little light bleed between the segments which is one of the things we are working on now.

Main body

This is the most important part of the Doppler and it's looking great as well! You'll notice there is some warp in the part which we are working on, but it gets pressed into the proper position by the speaker frame as designed. It's better to be warped in, than out!

Back of the main body

Here is the back of the body showing the light sensor and microphone holes along with the bass port and USB board slots. See the texture difference on the bass port, it's a nice subtle touch we are very proud of! You'll notice some extra material called flash on microphone/light sensor holes on the top. We are working to eliminate those as well. You can also see the soft touch texture on this part as well. It feels great!

USB cover

This part needed some work as the press fit pins we designed are just a littttttle too big. This happens when doing press fit parts like this and we will dial it in perfectly in the next revision or two.

Looks good, doesn't it?

Here is a quick video of all the parts assembled. Things are looking really good and very close to production ready! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Referral program:

Do it!

We'd like to let you know about a referral program that we just started. It's a great way to earn some money and help PAI and the Doppler in the process! Allow us to explain:

The referral program is very simple,

1. Go to this link

2. Get your sharing link

3. Share it!

4. If someone buys a Doppler using your link, you get $25 deposited into your Paypal account!

It's really that simple and a great way to make some money.

Now, I know some of you are thinking, "please spend your time engineering and finishing the product rather than selling more units". This is a very good point and let me explain our reasoning here. First off, engineering and finishing the product ASAP is our #1 priority, but in order to take advantage of economies of scale, we need a minimum order at least 5,000 units in our initial order. We currently have around 1,600 preorders and the closer we get to that minimum threshold, the better.

So, please spread the word about the Doppler and make some money in the process!

We hope you guys enjoyed this update and we plan on sending the next one in a couple of weeks to show off the new Doppler circuit boards using the Pico-SoM!

Thanks again for your continued support, questions, and comments.

-PAI Force!