Selfie after navigating the entire “Design and Build” plaza at CES2019 . Lots of great meetings with potential suppliers. (Chris Myerchin)
We’ve made good progress in getting the XOOT system design ready for crowdfunding. The design and engineering work is done. We’re working with manufacturers to estimate the costs and produce a few demo units. The crowdfunding launch is getting closer but it’s a few months away.
Design:
We’ve finished the design and engineering changes for the manufacturing ready XOOT System.
The largest group of changes enabled the XOOT system to support multiple screen types. This involved the design of modular Kits. See the blog entry (https://xoot.pro/a-kit-for-each-screen/) for details of Kits.
One of the big challenges in developing the Kits was the enhancement of the XOOT design software. Solving weightless operation is mathematically complicated. I created a software package to do this. However, the older software was difficult to use and did not scale well for solving multiple Kits. The software was updated to automate the design process and auto generate CAD file parts for each KIT design.
– Chris
Several smaller improvements were made for:
- Manufacturability
- Screen Stability
- Ease of Use
- Simplify (reduce mechanical complexity and costs where ever possible)
Manufacturing Estimate: (In Progress)
We’re now working with manufacturers to estimate XOOT system production costs. This process takes a while. It involves a lot of engineering and design back and forth between the manufacturer and the XOOT team. This process will result in producing a few Demo units for testing and marketing.
At the same time we are also developing a list of qualified suppliers for components. This means getting samples and testing quality to ensure they are up to our standards for professional operation.
Once this process is done, we should finally have a better answer for: “How much will a XOOT system cost?”
Crowd Funding: (In Progress)
We are still need to make a final decision for crowd funding, but Indiegogo is our leading choice.
Thanks to all those that have signed up for information on our upcoming crowdfunding launch.
An extra big thanks to all the people that add comments when singing up:
- Your comments are read and help improve our design decisions.
- Your encouragement is a real boost. There is nothing better than hearing that our work may be a real benefit to people.
Publicity:
We are relying on help from supporters to spread the word about the XOOT system. We’re a small team of engineers and designers. Marketing is not our strong suit.
Our best publicity is when people share news of the XOOT system with friends and co-workers. To make the XOOT system a reality we need a successful crowdfunding launch. Without that, there’s no guarantee XOOT will make it to market.
Your help is very much appreciated.
-The XOOT Team.