Lighted Pony Project (back it!)

[PupSideDown]

I've not see any updates from John since full funding. I've not seen anything on Kickstarter either. This is the first project that I've supported. Is this normal?

I received a direct email message from John as soon as the project funded. The email requested confirmation of my shipping address and an estimated delivery date for the lighted pony.

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[JoeDimwit]

Have t been in here for a while because someone thinks I’m a ”jerk”, so I missed this.

I have two questions before I go throw money at this…

1. How will this be connecting into the electrical system? (Do I need to manually splice in, or will there be a connector)
2. How many wats will this pull? (This one is more curiosity than anything else)

 

[Snowrider69]

Hey John, greatly appreciate the update.

 

[MachHI]

@supared Will there be a non Kickstarter purchase option?

 

[macchiaz-o]

Have t been in here for a while because someone thinks I’m a ”jerk”, so I missed this.

You can be a Perk ?, not a jerk. Welcome back, and good luck! ?

 

[RyanSD]

Have t been in here for a while because someone thinks I’m a ”jerk”, so I missed this.

 

[ChasingCoral]

MME Forum,

When the project funded, Kickstarter removed my ability to post normal project updates. There is a new beta feature for very short notes (100 characters) that they want us to use. I went ahead and did it, and now the prior version of updates are back. I'm confused tbh. But I sent this email below. I'll also put this in a typical update now that it is back. Please also note that when this funded, I was on vacation with my son in Aspen, Colorado. This was an important trip for me and him to bond due to the loss of my mother late last year. Rest assured, I was still busy working throughout that vacation. This week has been about catching up for my day job after a full week vacation, and keeping this moving. Here is the note I just sent.

Hi MME Family,

I know you are due for an update, and I'm trying to keep up with all of your messages. Things are definitely busy on this end, so please bear with me while I focus on keeping the project going. I'll be sending weekly updates. If anything comes into focus and is clearly off track, I will let you know between updates. Otherwise, know that everything is on track.

I'm still waiting on Kickstarter funds. They advise a minimum of 20 days from funding completion. Part of that is processing all of the payments. It looks like that is complete and only one was not able to be processed. Everyone should have received a message from me to confirm their shipping address. All but four people have replied, so I will be following up with them. This is critical so that I have all of the correct information when Kickstart forwards me a fulfillment report. If an address is not included, I don't know where to ship to. So part of the last week and a half since funding has been logistics.

While I was on vacation, I was also working on this project. I had a new version of the circuit designed. According to the simulation, it is a little better than the earlier design. All circuit boards finished production this week, and Pole Position boards were also assembled. I'm hoping they arrive by the end of next week, and then I'll be working on assembly of the remaining PCBs.

The high-quality scans of OEM plastics were also converted to CAD. This took quite a few revisions to get accurate results. I'm also in the process of working on the CAD design now. This is the critical path.

As you can see, there is a lot going on, and everything is progressing well. It is a very aggressive timeline, but I still feel good. Thanks again for all of your support!

Thanks John!

 

[derelict]

Bump... another week closer

 

[DarkMatter89]

Will there be multiple light colors available, a changeable model (rainbow), or just the white?

 

[DJJeffT]

Been a few weeks, any new updates @supared ?

 

[NoVAguy]

Been a few weeks, any new updates @supared ?

It's only been 1 week and 4 days since his last update, actually.

Don't get me wrong I am JUST as eager.. but we gotta let the man work! ?

Hope you are making good progress on the project, OP.

 

[GoIrish]

What came of this?

 

[RyanSD]

Latest Update, per Kickstarter:


Challenges Yes, But We Got This
We are now just finishing up both electrical and mechanical design. I can say confidently I have the right resources supporting us. I went through two more approaches to the circuit design and turned down a fifth approach that seemed a little too complicated (and expensive). And then we found the issues in his design. I've done A Lot of soldering and testing. Simulation only gets you so close. The electrical design is now the best solution out there considering complexity, cost, and functionality. I'm very pleased. It stays nice and cool (consistent with ambient temperature) and has a good soft turn-on and off. So, I'll be placing new PCB orders this week and doing my best at expediting them. Woo-hoo!

The mechanical design is no walk in the park either. It features a very complex shape. One of the best CAD engineers I've worked with had a heck of a time helping me with it. He said "that's no Pony! That's a wild Mustang!" One great thing that we discovered was that the scans were indeed accurate. You might recall my issue with the tail. After a couple more 10 hour prints, I determined that it was the 3D printing job that caused the distortion. That actually cost a few days to figure out. But now we have a very accurate model, and I've done a couple 3D prints since then. The outer fit is perfect, and it has to be. Revising things at this stage is cheap, but once you cut steel, rework gets exponentially more expensive. So, now we are just finalizing the Inner Pony and the assembly features. These will go out for quote this week, and I'll get a few more prints done. Very soon, I'll have a fully-featured prototype to share some video with you.

Thanks again for your patience and all of your support. We're in a great place, and I know you'll be happy when you get your illuminated pony!

 

[ValentinoRossi]

Hope all is going well

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

I’d expect another update from John late this week or early next. It’s been a couple weeks and he usually doesn’t leave us hanging too long.

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