MBI #4 - Get Ready to meet Zeus™

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Update:

The new Zeus PCBs have almost landed at my engineers facility (according to the tracking they are close).

All it takes now is for him to find at least one perfect one (meaning no faults on the complex PCB), patch the firmware, and verify the output for each mode.

The is the 2nd revision of the PCB (with zero component/placement changes) so in theory it should be the one (and oh am I praying it is).

It's been a long time and much has changed but fortunately the concept is still very valid so I do hope to be able to share some good news in the coming days. (The package does also contain the Torpedo X2 PCB protos so he'll be rather busy this week).

Tgwnn

 

[NowIC]

Update:

The new Zeus PCBs have almost landed at my engineers facility (according to the tracking they are close).

All it takes now is for him to find at least one perfect one (meaning no faults on the complex PCB), patch the firmware, and verify the output for each mode.

...

Tgwnn

I'm hoping he found lots of perfect ones!

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

I'm hoping he found lots of perfect ones!

Hi NowIC,

I just checked in and he was not able to test yet (part time like me) but hoping to have a result in the next few days.

I'll update the moment I hear back :thumbsup:

Tgwnn

 

[SA Condor]

Hi NowIC,

I just checked in and he was not able to test yet (part time like me) but hoping to have a result in the next few days.

I'll update the moment I hear back :thumbsup:

Tgwnn

I've got my trigger finger ready for Kickstarter

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

I've got my trigger finger ready for Kickstarter

Thanks SA Condor!


Update:

Thanks for your patience on the news with the PCB.
The newest PCB was flashable (firmware could be written successfully) but some of the functions were acting a little strange.

After a few hours of debugging, and hair pulling, the reason was incorrect placement angle of some components.
My engineer was able to re-position the lice sized parts and now all except one function looks to be good.

Checking the PCB (components etc) carefully which takes time and hoping to reach the 100% passed status soon.

I'll update again as soon as I have news.

Tgwnn

 

[gunga]

Lice sized parts?! Yeek. Did you need one of those special combs to reposition everything?

 

[Newguy2012]

Do you plan on crowdfunding this and the torpedo for mass production? It's pretty crazy how small some of those components on it are.

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Lice sized parts?! Yeek. Did you need one of those special combs to reposition everything?

LOL, thanks gunga,

When parts are this small, I sometimes feel like just closing my eyes and hoping for the best.
I need a robot with nano size arms... maybe I could train a flea to position things for me

Do you plan on crowdfunding this and the torpedo for mass production? It's pretty crazy how small some of those components on it are.

Hi Newguy2012,

Perhaps... I'll have to wait and see where other "things" are at, when the time comes

Tgwnn

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Breaking News:

Just moments ago my engineer resolved issues with the latest Zeus PCB and it's functioning flawlessly!
oooh YES!

In addition to two components that were wrongly placed (rotated 90 deg), there was a short on the board between 2 components (as space is extremely tight). Some high-res pics and patience helped to discover it followed by some tests which verified it.

So perhaps a couple of weeks for the PCB's to get back to the PCB fab, have them re-position components, and send back to me for final tests, but that is V.V.V. Good, Super Awesome in fact...
...because now that is confirmed, we can move on to testing the newest TorpX PCB (as we are using the same microprocessor stack, we needed to resolve and verify the Zeus issue first).

Keep the faith, good things sometimes happen

Tgwnn

 

[jonwkng]

Sounds like we're making good progress, Guy. Awesome news! :twothumbs

 

[gunga]

Sweet!

 

[climberkid]

Yipepeee! Guy, sending email about some observations...

 

[mcbrat]

If you need me to test a copper Zeus, I'm ready to go

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Sounds like we're making good progress, Guy. Awesome news! :twothumbs

Thanks jonwkng,

It's super awesome.
Don't think I'll be able to sleep!

It like a starshower, supermoon, eclipse, and comet all happening at the same time.

Sweet!

Thanks gunga, very!

I was actually just about to give the go ahead for a very small test batch of Apollo (sent a "let's start" mail, pending one final confirmation just a few hours ago).
Now I'm thinking I may just hold back to push Zeus ahead in the que as each one of these projects vacuums up money at about the same speed as the few hundred neodymium magnets I ordered accelerate towards each other


Zeus news is oh so good.
This is the 2nd run of the exact same PCB with almost a year in between so it's quite solid.

I need to re-confirm machining for Zeus parts as it's been a few moons, but I'm thinking I'll just move forward on a first beta pre-order, perhaps 2 dozen or so. I'd better sleep on it as I have quite a lot happening but that was really the last gating item. I have updated the drop-in design, mainly how the LED is bonded to the copper but everything else is set.

Zeus, a quick recap
Supported Batteries: AA, 14500 as the minimum (for production 18340,18650 and maybe some others)
Modes: 1 or 2 (very easily user programmable, except its more akin to just flicking a switch than programming)
Mode Startup: Start on High, Start on Low (again, as above, so easy to adjust)
Output: All Purpose & Bright (Using a AA, output is lower on both modes, Using a li-ion, power is higher on both modes)
Emitter: Most likely an XML2 in V1, easily upgraded via screw-in drop-in.
Optics: Reflector (Aspheric or TIR head down the road).
ThingCompatible: YES.YES.YES.

Tgwnn

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Yipepeee! Guy, sending email about some observations...

Alex!
Email... Just hop on a TR-3 and swing by for a coffee

If you need me to test a copper Zeus, I'm ready to go

Thanks muchly mcbrat (cubrat)!

Tgwnn

 

[RCantor]

Yeeee haaaaaaa! Congratulations. I'll wait until the infinitely variable version is available, though.

 

[NowIC]

ThingCompatible? A teasing hint, methinks.

 

[th8tredude]

Super Sweet news Guy!
I'm so happy your perseverance is paying off!!!

 

[gunga]

Yep. More modes for me. 3-4

 

[Iamnuts]

I also caught the thing compatible... I'll hazard a guess that the aforementioned order of neodim magnets, and that there is a magnet on thing it can used to adjust mode of zeus. Of course this is purely conjecture on my part.