Production and Testing: EVT Vestaboards - Updated

 

New information as of 11/8:  Last week we authorized our partner factory to build the first EVT units of Vestaboard! Very soon you’ll see behind the scenes photos and video of the final designed for manufacturing Vestaboard. We’re excited to share this content with you here in the Customer Portal as well as in your next Customer Update email!

This milestone of authorizing the EVT units of Vestaboard also means that we have

• Released all design files for all components of Vestaboard to our precise specifications
• Sourced and priced all components, parts and suppliers 
• Authorized purchase of materials for this first run of manufacturing

New information as of 10/25: We expect to re-authorize the build of the EVT units the week of October 29th. We will update this post when the authorization is complete.

New information as of 10/18: In your August Customer Update, we communicated to you that we expected to build production EVT Vestaboards by October since we had successfully received the first 200 production EVT Bits. Below, in the original version of this post on Sept 30th, we stated that we authorized our partner factory to begin building the production EVT Vestaboards. Since posting that update, we discovered more detailed design changes were required for certain parts of the overall Vestaboard. Specifically we needed to adjust the fit and location of the frame and mask, and alter the configuration of the PCBA backboard, before our partner factory could begin the build of EVT Vestaboards. We will provide a fresh update to you here in the Customer Portal and by email in November as to where we are with the EVT Vestaboards, and we will outline what that means for the delivery of your Vestaboards. To build Vestaboard as an enduring, beautiful product, these rounds of building and testing are necessary to catch unforeseen errors and ensure Vestaboard functions smoothly and looks fantastic.

Update as posted on 9/30:  Last week we authorized our partner factory to begin building the first manufactured Vestaboards! These EVT units will undergo comprehensive testing. Over 4,000 Vestaboard Bits (character units) will be used to assemble these EVT Vestaboards.

Below: An inside view of the Vestaboard with manufactured BitsI with its aluminum frame and mask removed. Every Bit is modular and uses a handy method to attach to the gorgeous, black PCB.

Our partner factory delivered our very first 200 Vestaboard Bits to us several weeks ago and we have been running many of them non-stop to ensure they are ready for prime time. For the first production parts (and the most complex) they were good but not flawless. We have been working to solve issues prior to authorizing the next 4,000 Bits.

The video below shows one of the first factory-produced Bits that is still being run 24x7 every few seconds. This "lifecycle testing" is a way for us to estimate how many times a Bit can be expected to flip to a different character without failure. In the video you'll overhear some of the lifecycle testing for prototype Bits that started in April. Some of the prototype Bits have surpassed 2.5 million cycles.  This means if Vestaboard were to change 50 times each day, the Bit would cycle the equivalent of 136 years!  While our standard warranty will be one year, our goal is to deliver a truly enduring product!

 

The fully assembled EVT Vestaboard units will also be tested for life cycle performance. In addition they will be tested for acoustic noise, thermal cycling, thermal shock, high and low temperature operation and storage, packaging performance (compression, vibration, drop) and electrostatic discharge. We will also be certifying with with UL or equivalent safety ratings during this period.

The process for our partner factory to build and assemble the initial Vestaboards will take 6-8 weeks and testing will get underway. While arriving at manufactured Vestaboards is an exciting milestone, I understand you are most interested in knowing when you will receive your Vestaboard(s) given our guidance of Fall 2019 to many of you (for others guidance is Spring and Summer 2020).

Please allow us to be in the thick of testing these initial EVT units before providing production and shipping dates. My commitment is to provide specific dates that we are confident we can hit. As soon as we have a good understanding how testing for the EVT Vestaboard units is going, we will publish a detailed update.