PiJuice is the ultimate module for all portable Raspberry Pi projects. Includes many fun maker projects and a solar power version too!
Hi all,
Further to last update, we asked Embest to take some more photos showing the board up close etc. Here they are:
Thanks as always,
Aaron and the PiJuice team
Hi all,
As promised, more updates as things progress. Know it is pretty rare from us to get so many in a week so we hope you enjoy and that it isn't annoying :-)
As mentioned in the last couple of updates, there was a problem with our manufacturer Embest / Farnell and the PCBs. As you will know from those updates also, they said they would ship them out to us on the 25th September - which is next Monday. We asked them nicely if they could improve on this even just a little bit, and they have done - so they are now actually shipping out on Thursday 21st September (today!). So we should have them here in the office in the UK on Monday or Tuesday of next week (25th or 26th September) with any luck! We can't wait to see them...it has been a VERY long time coming!
We have also asked them to provide an estimated date now of when the board will be starting to roll of the production line. We will let you know as soon as they give us a date - but please understand it will be still be an approximate date.
We are also investigating whether they can part ship quantities as they are finished, rather than all in one big shipment, so we can start getting them out to backers as soon as possible.
Before shipping the samples out on Thursday, we asked Embest to take a bunch of photographs of the board, kit contents and packaging to show you. You can see a selection of them below...sorry the resolution/quality is not that amazing...once the samples arrive with us early next week, we will send one to our photographer/graphic designer Louis to take some beautiful high-res shots of the boards and share those better ones with you when we have them.
We also hope you like the PCB colour - we kept that as a little surprise for you :-)
Sorry about the low resolution and quality. Once we receive them our photographer will be taking some much better ones.
As we have mentioned in previous updates, whilst we have now got the final golden samples, which have allowed us to test the programming, testing, packaging and general quality of manufacture with Embest / Farnell and weed out any issues, this does not mean we have the full production quantities ready yet. Those will be a little longer, and as mentioned above as soon as we have an expected ship date for those from Embest / Farnell we will share it with you in an update.
However, we want to start getting people testing, reviewing and generally creating information and building excitement for PiJuice as soon as possible.
On that note, we are allocating a couple of the samples to be shipped out on a round-robin review/test. We have chosen 5 people to kick this off from the community - RasPi.TV, The MagPi, Sean McManus, Michael Horne and Tim Richardson (the great thing is that all of these are backers, with the exception of The MagPi). However, we do not want it to end there - so after they get to those people and they have had a chance to do something with them, we want to ship them out to some more backers as well!
The basic rules will be as follows:
PLEASE NOTE: We expect there to be quite a lot of interest in this....so we will be choosing people based on where we think the content / info will get the maximum exposure and the boards will get the best test. This form is just a register of interest, and you are not guaranteed to be selected. Please note, your address will also be shared with the previous person who had the test unit before you, so they can ship it out to you, and obviously to the courier.
If you would be keen to get involved with this, please follow this link to register your interest - https://goo.gl/forms/hJIVbkuUq0u2qEYG2
We will post an update again once we receive the samples next week, just so you know we have got them OK!
Thanks,
Aaron and the PiJuice team
Hi all,
With reference to the previous update, we have just received an email from Embest / Farnell saying that the samples will finish assembly by 22nd September (this Friday) and will be programmed and tested by Monday the 25th September.
They will then ship them to us hopefully on a 2 day shipping service so we should have them sometime next week.
Just wanted to keep you all in the loop.
As soon as we have pictures of the first boards off the line we will send another update, and of course when they have arrived and we have tested them.
Thanks,
Aaron and the PiJuice team
Hi all,
Just got another email from Embest / Farnell...just a quick one showing the printed guides and packaging but thought it was worth sending you this little quick update, because everyone loves pictures!
More pictures of the finished boards etc when we have them from Embest / Farnell later this week!
Cheers,
Aaron and the PiJuice team
Hi everyone,
As mentioned in our last update, we were planning on receiving our first batch of production units by the end of August / early September.
Unfortunately, today we were notified that our manufacturer, Embest / Farnell, has made a error with the PiJuice PCBs. This is a massive blow to the Pi Supply team and all of you as our backers. Considering how long this has taken and the in-depth detail we gave them on everything to do with the PiJuice product, we are not happy at all with this - especially as we were notified of this issue over a week past the expected delivery date for the fully assembled boards.
We've told them to fast-track new PCB creation, send us a picture as soon as they arrive so we can check the quality, and get them assembled ASAP so we can progress.
We're working hard and pushing our manufacturer to make sure all the PiJuice boards are produced at the highest quality possible. As mentioned in the last update, all the testing equipment and processes are at Embest and ready to be implemented as soon as the new boards arrive and are assembled.
We'll keep you all up to date with the situation as we move forward. We can only apologise for yet another issue.
Thanks for your continued patience,
Aaron and the Pi Supply team