Tiny1: The world's first astronomy camera made small, smart, and social.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Fri Mar 3 '17 Announcement
about 9 years ago
– Fri, Mar 03, 2017 at 08:57:03 AM
Dear Backers,
Here’s the fortnightly update on
the TINY1
Let’s start with a short video on the design thinking and refinements made to the TINY1 design.
The video shows the details we put in the design of TINY1. We hope it gives you an insight on the design thinking of building the TINY1 and bring you closer to our entire process.
For all our backers who are keeping an eye out for the August Solar Eclipse, we will have an announcement to make in the next update. Stay tuned!
Development
Our focus for the past two weeks had been on manufacturing. Development is bringing up the high speed capture functionality and the camera calibration portion at the moment. We expect to meet Qualcomm in the coming weeks to resolve the outstanding development requirements.
Manufacturing
The manufacturing qualification test went extremely well. The pre-production prototype passed all the tests with flying colours except the electrostatic discharge (ESD) test. All cameras survived the following tests:
Temperature Cycling Test -20°C to 60°C
Humidity test 100% Relative Humidity
IP42 rating water resistance
Drop test 3 feet drop on hard steel floor on ¼ inch carpet
TINY1 in the temperature test chamber
We had soft failure and damage to the WiFi parts with the electrostatic discharge test. The camera shut down but recovered after being subjected to electrostatic charges of 4KV-6KV. The WiFi antenna port was too close to one of the lens mount screws, allowing an arc to damage to the WiFi front end amplifier.
The team is improving the design for better electrostatic protection. Sensitive electronics are also being moved further away from the lens mount screws.
ESD protection will be especially important for backers intending to explore drier climates where static discharge could be a problem. We expect to place manufacturing orders for the printed circuit board by the next update.
TINY1 at the electrostatic discharge probe station
The camera has been certified by UL to a IP42 standard. The camera can withstand light rain but should be wiped down if exposed to water.
Delivery timeline
We are currently looking at the following timeline
Logistics and ship - 2 weeks (upcoming 7/4/2017 - 21/4/2017)
Buffer - 2 weeks (21/4/2017 - 5/5/2017)
Thank you once again for your support!
Best regards,
Grey
Fri Feb 17 '17 Announcement
about 9 years ago
– Fri, Feb 17, 2017 at 02:32:02 AM
Dear Backers,
Here’s the fortnightly update on
the Tiny1
Here’s a glimpse of how the Tiny1 is made. Each aerospace grade aluminium enclosure is precision machined under strict tolerances. Its finish is applied by skillful hands. The exterior of the Tiny1 is definitely one of its defining features.
We’ve Raphael to thank for this wonderful masterpiece. Let us know what you think about it in the comments. We’re planning another shoot this Monday and discuss the design aspects of the Tiny1.
Development
Great news! We have breakthrough on the stumbling block we faced for over 6 weeks. The long exposure settings have been resolved. We can now move forward with the other development requirements.
High speed capture is now the highest priority item on the development side.
Colour and imaging settings should be a routine setup. We have the test equipment on hand to go through the checklist. The test will help to define the colour rendering, remove sensor artifacts and noise patterns.
Manufacturing
Lih Wei going through the assembly steps with the build team.
First 4 units prepared for the testing phase.
Lih Wei is now with Qualcomm and Underwriters Lab for the pre-manufacturing tests. They include:
Temperature Cycling Test -20°C to 60°C
Humidity test 100% Relative Humidity
Enclosure protection IP42 rating water resistance
Drop test 3 feet drop on hard steel floor on ¼ inch carpet
Electrostatic discharge test Probe for ESD protection
The tests stress the camera to check for weakness in design or manufacturing, so that it can be corrected and a quality product can be delivered to you. It may add some time to the delivery timeframe, but we ask for your patience, as this will ensure a quality product reaches you.
Once the tests and revisions(if any) are complete, the electronics can be assembled.
Delivery timeline
We are expecting the following timeline for delivery. Each task is linear and counting starts from today (3rd week of February)
Testing - 2 weeks
Revision (if needed) - 2 weeks
Manufacturing - 3 weeks
Logistics and ship - 2 weeks
Buffer - 2 weeks
The expected ship date is around the last week of April. We’re doing everything we can to shorten the timeline where possible. Thank you for your support and patience.
Best regards,
Grey
Fri Feb 3 '17 Announcement
about 9 years ago
– Fri, Feb 03, 2017 at 02:13:31 AM
Dear Backers,
Here’s the fortnightly update on the TINY1
We just went to the factory yesterday. It’s very exciting watching the parts roll out of the machines. Here’s some of the images we took.
The camera starts as a block of aerospace grade aluminium.
After rough shaping by a CNC, it is cleaned up by a 2nd CNC at high precision.
The cameras will be undergoing a 3rd CNC step for all the port holes and the seamless camera strap port.
It will be followed by a pickling bath, anodizing bath, dye bath and acid polishing before the electronics is assembled on it.
We’ll be releasing a series on how the TINY1 is made soon.
Development
We have hired new help to continue with the development efforts.
All major features have been refined. The star maps is getting accurate information from all spatial sensors now for accurate pointing.
Long exposure is still an issue we are fixing. We are working closely with our sensor manufacturer, Qualcomm and our software design team on this matter. We’ll be in Qualcomm’s office on the 3rd week of February to ensure a speedy resolution.
Manufacturing
We are starting environmental testing next week. The 50 prototypes we have on hand will be undergoing stress testing through several tests before electronics manufacturing will commence in full.
The tests includes drop tests, temperature cycling, humidity cycling, extended operations and water and dust ingress tests. They ensure the quality of the products and parts before all orders come in.
This step is critical, as manufacturing a bad batch would require re-ordering parts which will take 14 weeks to come. The tests will complete in 1 to 2 weeks time.
Manufacturing of all hardware components including the aluminium body, weather proof port covers, shutter buttons etc will be complete in the next 2 weeks.
Delivery
We have just concluded a deal with our shipper for logistics of shipping 900 over orders to you.
We are doing everything we can to deliver quality products to you in late March. We seek your patience on the development and testing leg of our journey. Manufacturing is ready to go ahead once these hurdles are cleared.
Sincerely,
Grey
Fri Jan 20 '17 Announcement
about 9 years ago
– Fri, Jan 20, 2017 at 12:11:20 AM
Dear Backers,
Here’s the update on the TINY1
We just came back from CES this week. It was amazing. We met several backers and people who can put the TINY1 in stores. We were invited by a SpaceX engineer, to watch a Falcon 9 launch at Vandenburg Air Force Base. This is taken by the Tiny1 with the 100MM lens.
More later, here’s the updates you are waiting for.
Development
R&D is still facing some issues on the long exposure image capture side. The work outstanding remains the same for now. We will be visiting Qualcomm in mid-February (slight delay due to Lunar New Year in Singapore) to finalize all development work. We should expect a breakthrough in the next update.
Manufacturing & Delivery
Manufacturing is making excellent progress. Our latest update is that 50 units of electronic boards have been manufactured and assembled. They are awaiting preliminary testing right now. The boards will go through a series of software functional test. Thereafter the mechanical components will be fitted for the devices to go through a series of environmental tests before mass production starts.
Here’s the first batch delivered to our office. We’ll begin machining the injection molding parts for the plastic and silicone parts, and making the die cut tool for the weatherproofing seal shortly after Lunar New Year in 2 weeks.
Packaging has been manufactured and is on the way to us via ship. We’re expecting to receive 1100 TINY1 boxes in 2 to 3 weeks.
Delivery is expected to start in late March 2017. We are doing everything possible to stay on schedule for delivery. Thank you for your patience. We’re very excited about the progress to delivery right now!
CES Trip
CES was amazing. We met with various retailers and distributors who are interested to carry TINY1 to market. With hard work and perseverance, TinyMOS will no longer be a crowdfunding company, but one that can bring astronomy imaging innovations to the market. All this could only have happened because of the community here at Indiegogo who backed us and supported us. We met quite a few of you guys at the show as well!
You can look forward to getting more TinyMOS innovations in the stores near you by Q3 if everything proceeds as planned. We are especially keen to prepare our backers for the Solar Eclipse in August, so that you can capture the moment.
A big thanks for the guys from SpaceX, especially Bryce who had us over for the launch. There’s always something interesting and unexpected when we visit the USA.
Best regards,
Grey
Wed Jan 4 '17 Announcement
over 9 years ago
– Wed, Jan 04, 2017 at 06:19:59 PM
Dear Backers,
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year break!
We’re in Las Vegas now to attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). More on that later, here’s a quick update on the Tiny1
Development
Tiny1 development has been progressing steadily. We have achieved better stability of the software as of now.
We have also manufactured 5 pieces of the latest version of the electronics last night. The boards are being shipped by express courier from our manufacturers to us in Las Vegas. We should be able to see the latest revision during the show or during the meet-ups after CES.
What still needs to be done:
RAW capture in long exposure
High speed capture
Colour and imaging settings profile and calibration
Capture pre-sets and noise reduction UI
The tasks are related, once RAW capture in long exposure is cleared, the rest should progress rather smoothly.
Accessories development has been going very well. We’ve received the Canon and Nikon lens adapter in black anodized form. It'll be approved for manufacturing upon field testing.
Manufacturing & Delivery
Manufacturing has made good progress as well. 20 new boards are being manufactured right now. These would best tested to ensure stability and reliability before mass manufacturing.
We have already received all key components for manufacturing. Testing of the boards and the software developments are the final few hurdles before Tiny1 reaches your hands.
The delivery of these boards have been a team effort with key suppliers as the delivery spanned both Christmas and New Year. We’re thankful for their support!
Accessories:
The 100mm F2 and 2.8mm F1.2 lenses have also arrived at our office in Singapore. The 100mm F2 lens has been improved following user testing. The lens is able to zoom out, so that pointing at distant object becomes much easier. We do recommend using it at the maximum zoom setting for best image quality.
CES + San Francisco Meet up
We are at CES, Las Vegas (booth 50206 at the Eureka Park) from tomorrow till 8th of January. Give us a shout if you’re visiting! Check out our Facebook and Instagram for updates from the event.
First 4 units prepared for the testing phase.
