Year 9, If I were to sum it up in one statement, what can I say other than busier than ever!
Meeting Creative People
I managed to squeeze in three shows this last year, out and about. Each of the three shows are pretty different, and I absolutely love being at them. Prepping to be there is not very easy and takes a ton of time, though. Lesson learned, this year I only plan on two shows. This gives me a little more time for R&D. Getting to meet and hang out in real life with some of you guys is absolutely the highlight. Soaking in all that creative energy is vital, and really gives me the inspiration to think outside the box. The maker movement is growing, the shows are larger than ever. The picture above lets you see just how packed it gets.
Jackpot!
Next up is the highlight of my year, the Jackpot CNC Controller. Getting our own board out there was such an amazing journey. Frustrations with other boards prices and functionality have been a part of V1 Engineering since day one. That Vicious Circle of board issues research, testing and maintenance has been a huge pain. Well that is no longer. The Jackpot CNC controller is ultra low cost, feature packed, and expandable....and on top of that, fully under my control if something needs changing, I can change it.
V1 Genuine
That leads us nicely into the V1 Engineering ESP32. The jackpot relied on a off the shelf ESP32 to save cost....guess what, quality issues. Using my new-found PCB skills and the help of all the smart people that hang out around here, we made our own to control the quality. We went from a 30-50% failure rate to currently 0%!!! Using genuine parts, we have met the price of manufacturer direct, with added features and a couple of really good-looking logo's.
Nationwide
Year 9 is not over yet. Just when I thought I had the best year yet, I got an email asking to be part of a nationwide product development project. The parent company for Kobalt tools asked for our help in developing a more maker-centric router. While the product launch ultimately did not work out for the Kobalt brand I am told the router might show up under a different name. The process was fun, a handful of use got to have direct input and did make a few very meaningful changes. The picture above is still very crazy for me to look at. The Router launched at all of Kobalts US stores on a display that feature pictures of the LowRider 3 router and a picture of the Lowrider 3 on every single router box. I am smiling just typing that.
MP3DP v5
So The MP3DP V5 did not quite make the cut and is in Year 10 territory, but the last several months were spent developing a new 3D printer. Details are here, but will be officially a year 10 release.
The Future
So what is in store for year ten? I just started to bring in more help, so I can spend more time updating machines, and improving the docs. Better, faster, less expensive, and easier, is always the goal. We have some new software possibilities on the horizon.
Most importantly, I want to keep loving my "job" and having fun every day. The only way to do that is keep making sure everyone has fun and helps me to keep the passion alive.
Thank you
Thank you for being a part of these projects, thank you for hanging out, thank you for the support, the laughs, the frustrations, the ideas, and most important having fun together. See you in the forums, I can't wait to see what the future holds for all of us.