2016-08-02, 04:55
(This post was last modified: 2016-08-03, 03:39 by MisterDiodes.
Edit Reason: Splelling
)
Egon & Co. don't need to release source code - Firmware binaries would be nice though. Just an idea: Egon supplies a bootloader that only works when a customer completes a board set that passes basic tests, and is keyed to general Lat / Long of the GPS receiver destination. Once running, the bootloader "phones home" to Egon's server to grab the real running firmware ONLY when whatever sign-up fees etc. are paid, and the receiver's basic functions are up and running. Egon is always in complete control of the network, and what software is running, and on whose receiver. He hasn't given up control of anything. The best part is he doesn't have to try and build every board himself.
The technique is used all the time for enterprise-class data radios, LTE trancievers, etc. Nothing new. Those radio systems usually never ship with final firmware loaded up - that process only happens when they have passed inspection remotely at customer's site, and GPS coordinates are verified in order to set FCC transmitter power levels and receiver gains.
Building boards is almost trivial if you do it correctly as a large batch, and as many SMT parts as possible (HINT: You DON'T want to do these on your own one at a time - good grief let a Pick and Place bang them out by the hundreds!). If I were supplying these in the US it's a lot cheaper and easier for everyone to supply completed - or nearly completed - board sets. The labor time that that goes into making a "kit" is always much more expensive than letting the robot stuff the board. The end result is the easily manufactured board is virtually guaranteed to work once the first few protos are banged out - but you never know what is going happen when you send out a "kit" of parts to a customer. The skill level will be all over the map - however on a project like this the customer is probably already pretty savvy.
I've done it both ways, and believe me it's far easier and far cheaper just to get the boards assembled en-masse. Don't get me wrong - Heathkits were great fun also
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These are just suggestions though. I know it's Egon's project, and I wish him success - but at the moment I get a sense of struggling going on. He's got quite a project ahead of him if even a percentage of the some-thousand requests turn into orders. There might be easier ways to lighten his workload, that's all.
The technique is used all the time for enterprise-class data radios, LTE trancievers, etc. Nothing new. Those radio systems usually never ship with final firmware loaded up - that process only happens when they have passed inspection remotely at customer's site, and GPS coordinates are verified in order to set FCC transmitter power levels and receiver gains.
Building boards is almost trivial if you do it correctly as a large batch, and as many SMT parts as possible (HINT: You DON'T want to do these on your own one at a time - good grief let a Pick and Place bang them out by the hundreds!). If I were supplying these in the US it's a lot cheaper and easier for everyone to supply completed - or nearly completed - board sets. The labor time that that goes into making a "kit" is always much more expensive than letting the robot stuff the board. The end result is the easily manufactured board is virtually guaranteed to work once the first few protos are banged out - but you never know what is going happen when you send out a "kit" of parts to a customer. The skill level will be all over the map - however on a project like this the customer is probably already pretty savvy.
I've done it both ways, and believe me it's far easier and far cheaper just to get the boards assembled en-masse. Don't get me wrong - Heathkits were great fun also
.These are just suggestions though. I know it's Egon's project, and I wish him success - but at the moment I get a sense of struggling going on. He's got quite a project ahead of him if even a percentage of the some-thousand requests turn into orders. There might be easier ways to lighten his workload, that's all.