The latest DreamLover 2000 prototype (playfully nicknamed the "Chopin" model) has it all! Ladies and gentlemen, right now we're feeling a strong impulse to go with WHITE plastic and BLACK rubber and keep this color scheme on the remote overlay too: white, black and pink.
Ok, first of all, the prototype here is in plain ABS plastic so it's not pure white. If we go with white we'd spray paint it from the inside and keep the outside unpainted (polycarbonate, mirror finish). So it would look even better. Also, something you can't see from the video (or pictures) is the really gorgeous texture that the attachment part came with! It's not shiny. It feels like satin. This is probably due to the sanding of the mold and the soft material used... This is not hardened automobile rubber, but pure silicone. Very very nice object!
As you know we've been waiting for over a week for the PCB assembly guys to get the company credit card which they said they had many times but actually didn't. This morning they asked for an agreement from us saying the bank needed it. Does the bank really need us to agree? Don't think so...
Longest day ever. Left at 10:30am, back at 9:30pm. But a very interesting and productive day. With this out of the way we can now begin true production and assembly of circuit boards.
- Submitting final CAD model for the final spray painted prototype.
- Sending final PCB design (these have to be redone thanks to the assembly house who swore they didn't need panels and now it seems they do - but we're using their amazing machines so it's all worth it)
- Before sending final PCB design we negotiated a costly but very important 1 hour trip to the EMC testing lab to make sure there won't be problems getting our EMC compliance paperwork after the boards are produced and assembled.
- Meeting with Jason and the Paint guy. Yes, there's a new "guy" around and he will come see us with samples and painted objects for us to choose. Isn't that exciting? He's probably mad as a hatter just the LED guy with all the heavy metals he inhales daily :). He will be the guy to guarantee the composition of the paint and its safety. The problem is that we can't test the back-painting method because that requires a polycarbonate enclosure with mirror finish, and the mirror finish cannot be achieved by machines but only with a mold (which we don't have yet, it's the very last step, probably to begin just as soon as we test the new plastic parts).
That's all for now - but an important waterproofing video is coming up
Trying to avoid China rants because the feeling is that once they begin they will take over the blog permanently! However a bunch of people have written and commented that they enjoy seeing the reality of manufacturing in China... so, well they convinced us to release some of the pressure that's been building up!
Disclaimer: there are a lot of positive aspects to Chinese culture, but these are usually only evident if you interact with locals on a personal level and if you speak the language.
So the rant is focused on how hard it is to "get stuff done", and how hard it is to live without all the comforts. This is from the perspective of someone looking to come to China to set up production, and is only one facet of what you can find in China...
