New Matter updates

[Feign]

It has just occurred to me that even though the New Matter team has been sending out weekly updates to backers, the forum here has gone a bit quiet. After a little bit of consideration, I figured I would make this thread to share relevant snippets from the update e-mails when they come (and they come exactly on-schedule each Wednesday). The past few updates have been a bit dry, the first paint test for consideration on the line, and a nice little extra that each backer who bought a printer will also be getting a New Matter t-shirt. Little stuff like that.

The latest update has a juicy bit worth sharing:

MANUFACTURING UPDATE:

“We’re currently refining the design with regards to manufacturability” Rob said. In other words, “The architecture is changing for the better. We’re heading towards high-volume manufacturing, ultimately leading to a higher quality machine.” Fewer parts that move more efficiently? Sounds like a win-win-win.

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT:

Our newest prototype was born this week! She’s happily whirring along and already out-printing her parents. [filler image] We'll be sending pictures of the printer in next week's update.

I'm a bit excited to see this semi-final "manufacturability prototype" and how close it is to the initial prototypes shown in the campaign video.

[curious aardvark]

interested to see the pics of the new prototype next week :-)

[Feign]

Small side-update: Apparently, every pledge that got a MOD-t also got a t-shirt thrown in (it wasn't originally included in any of the pledges except the specific t-shirt pledge). When I saw the email for it a while back I wasn't all that excited, since I'm not really a shirts-with-logos kind of guy. The shirt that came in the mail though is pretty darn nice, I'll have to make an exception. (the logo on the side is more subtle than the picture on the IGG site makes it look, making it overall look kinda classy.)

Now I wish they would have some kind of shop open on their site for little goodies like this. My fiance wants a New Matter shirt now, but I have no way to get her one.

[Feign]

Well, this week's update was titles "As promised... PICTURES" and it delivers on that.
They call this the "look-like, feel-like prototype" which is a bit vague, but from the previous update, this is the prototype made with all the materials and processes that are going into the manufacturing line from the hot end and servos to the paint and plastic. This isn't actually the first unit off the line, but it should be exactly like the one that is.



First impression: they really did thicken up the guide rails for the z-axis, and the hot end and thermistor seems to protrude a bit from the bottom of the extruder housing, which might bother some people a little bit, but it's kind of a relief to me that it's accessible for cleaning and maintenance. Aside from those details, it looks pretty much exactly like the original render.

I really hope at some point they'll give us a video of this new production-level machine printing something. For now we have to take their word for it that this prints.

[curious aardvark]

[QUOTE]["look-like, feel-like prototype"/QUOTE]
seems odd that there are no working pic. Unless this is exactly what the above quote says: ie: just a non-functional mock up to show you what the physical machine will look like.

They probably haven't got the firmware or board running yet.

[Feign]

Ah, except that they mentioned in the September 26 update -

Our newest prototype was born this week! She’s happily whirring along and already out-printing her parents. [filler image] We'll be sending pictures of the printer in next week's update.

which leads me to believe that it most likely prints, they're just dragging out the reveals to make sure they have something each week. Speaking of which, the updates tend to be in the evening, so today's isn't out just yet. (I'll try to post about it here as soon as I can, they have a funny tendency to put them up during my evening commute.)

[Feign]

Sorry about not getting this up last night, there was kind of a whirlwind of personal stuff that kept me off the internet after work. Not the least of which being a very fast-hitting cold that still has me too tired and sore to really paraphrase the weekly newsletter, so I'll just post up the first part word-for-word. They've changed the wording slightly, calling last week's prototype the "looks-like, works-like" prototype. Which I'm sure was in response to the same kind of confusion that was here as to weather or not the new prototype actually works.

In this newsletter, we'll update you on the whereabouts of two team members, chat briefly about 3D artists and share a handful of our first test prints from the looks-like-works-like prototype we showed you last week.

Rob and Alan left for China last Saturday! They will be in the country for two weeks, hopping around to a couple of different cities but spending most of their time visiting factories in Shenzhen. If you have any recommendations for things to see or places to eat, we started a little facebook convo on our page here.

We're on the hunt for 3D artistic talent. If you or someone else you know is interested in designing for our New Matter Store, send a portfolio to imadesigner@newmatter.com.

Last week you saw the printer. This week, it's all about the prints!

Well, there you have it. I sure would have loved to see video of it printing. The comparison bunny is nice, it looks like they've probably been working on the code a bit in addition to just cleaning up the hardware. I wonder how well it would work with regular g-code from Cura or Slic3r. The precision test looks absolutely beautiful, and a nice choice of model for it in a torture test kind of way. The pencil holder is probably for the 'practical uses only' readers, but it's not exactly a hard print so I can't get too excited about it (looks like there was a slight lift on one of the corners, too, but it seems to have not effected the rest of the print, which is intriguing).

[Feign]

Another Wednesday has passed, so another update email. Not too much about the printer itself in this one, instead focusing on the New Matter team moving into a larger facility.

Probably the most interesting thing is that they seem to have been hiring like crazy, the team has definitely grown.

Pertaining to the printer, there is this one shot of a line of prototype parts kits possibly from the Shenzen factory EDIT: I've been corrected, these are not from the factory.


It's definitely looking like they are steadily on the way to ironing this out for production.

[curious aardvark]

okay where the hell did they get that metallic silver pla ? I want some !

So what was the original schedule and how are they doing ?

[Feign]

okay where the hell did they get that metallic silver pla ? I want some !

So what was the original schedule and how are they doing ?

At first I thought the silver bunny was painted to show the layers, but upon closer looking maybe that is a metallic PLA... Curious.

According to the schedule on IGG:
"Sept to Nov 2014 - Fabricate and qualify tooling" <- They're definitely right here now
"Dec 2014 to Jan 2015 - Pilot runs and Regulatory Testing" <- very important step that most campaigns try to just skip (if they make a timeline at all)
"Feb 2015 - Production Pilot" <- These get torture tested to make sure there's no need for emergency adjustments to the line.
"Feb to May 2015 - Production and Delivery"

It should be noted that the earliest promised delivery date is in April, so they have from February to March as wiggle room in the plan to iron out any kinks in production and build up a QA cue. It should probably be noted that most IGG campaigns would in this situation have tried skipping the testing and Production Pilot to try delivering in time for Christmas. One of the reasons the schedule is the most important thing I look at when considering donating to a campaign.