*The duties and taxes will be the responsibility of the backer. Sure, we’ll try to make it as cheap as possible for you 😉

We’ve spent more than two years designing prototyping testing and optimizing TinyMaker. Images below show some prototypes.

Functional Prototype:

In this prototype, we successfully verified its functionality. You can see there is an Arduino on the PCB. This prototype is mainly to test ideas. We took this picture 18 months ago. Jose machined all the metal parts using an old mill. So it’s pretty rough.

Assembly Verification Prototype:

After we built the Functional Prototype, we made several versions of it. During this period, we completed the mechanical design and industrial design. After many assembly trials, we ordered the injection molds from the factory.This blue-green case is injection-molded. Since the mold was not polished at that time, it was a bit rough. During this period, we completed the PCB layout. The Atmel chip on the PCB has been replaced by ESP32.

DFM Prototype:

This is the DFM(Design for Manufacturing) Prototype. So far, we have completed the testing of injection molds and fixtures. And ordered the first batch of parts from suppliers. All the metal parts in this picture are produced by high-precision CNC machines.

Injection Molds of TinyMaker：

Risks and challenges

Like all innovative projects, we will face certain risks and challenges in delivering this product at the quality we demand of ourselves. We will work with multiple suppliers to complete the production of this product. A problem in the supply chain of any supplier could delay the entire production schedule. In that instance, we will work hard to push the solution and seek alternative sources.

Shipping: Currently, international shipping volumes are relatively congested, which may result in longer shipping times. Of course, we will work with well-trained shipping companies to minimize shipping delays.

TinyMaker is a product of lots of testing and research, and our team has been working on it for over two years. But no project is risk-free. If something goes wrong, we promise to keep our backers updated and informed about any issues and how we solve them.