Satellite Production
At present the Satellite Chocolate board is a hand-solderable working prototype.
There are a number of shortcomings and flaws that I have noted during the development of the current board that I would like to fix. There are also a number of improvements that I would like to make to the board. I am currently working on a new version of the Chocolate board that addresses these shortcomings.
I have had the opportunity to test the potential level of interest in doing a production run of the board. At this stage a production run does not appear to be economically feasible, but this could change in the future. For now, the project remains an interesting personal project.
Should I move toward a production run, there are a number of things to consider.
Firstly, hand-soldering each Chocolate board is impractical for a production run, so changes will have to be made to accommodate a proper production process.
The Satellite System itself is a working prototype. Whilst it is a working system, it is incomplete. Further work and cleanup will be needed before a solid public release is possible.
Component costs reduce with volume, as do manufacturing costs. Software development and board design is essentially a fixed cost, so greater numbers of boards reduce the effective cost per board. The more people that are interested, the less the overall cost to produce a board is, and the more feasible it is to proceed.
If there is sufficient interest in the Satellite System and the Chocolate board in the future, it may be practical to go through the process of refinement and improvement to produce a refined Chocolate board and a solid Satellite System for public release.
Interested?
If you think that the Satellite System and the Chocolate board are something you might be interested in, please let me know. If you are happy to take a short short survey, it would be really helpful. Click here to take the survey.
I cannot make any promises at this stage. When I last tested interest, it was simply not strong enough to make a production run economically viable. It will take many, many more people being interested in the end result to make such a thing feasible. If this project is something that you want to see become a real product, then get the word out there. Talk about it, point people to this site, let them know what the board can do for them. Spread the word. Discussion generates interest. If enough people are interested, we can make it happen.
In the meantime, I am going to keep working on the Satellite System and Chocolate board as a personal project. I will keep an eye out for opportunities to turn it into a product in the future. If you would like to be involved, or are in the position to help make it a reality, please don't hesitate to drop me a line:
I hope to hear from you soon.