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Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

simonberens.com

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Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#11

Post by Neywiny »

sberens wrote: post #10
Neywiny wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So just to confirm, the actual cause for the controls not working is still unknown to the reader but the reason the measurements didn't make sense was swapped labels?

The controls weren't working because we had wired them up according to the labels which were wrong (which is also why the measurements didn't make sense to us).

Ah. A lesson from somebody who's built hardware that I'm sure you've now learned: make sure connectors can't plug into eachother unless they're supposed to. Even if they're different connectors, different keying, whatever, sometimes they can still be forced together.

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#12

Post by sberens »

atif089 wrote: post #6

For someone who has no idea about light engineering or electronics if I stack two 25k Lm lamps next to each other does it make 50k Lm light? I recently changed my car's headlamps to Chinese LED which claims to be about 37kLm and I don't know how much it is probably less than that. Two of those lamps costee me around $24 on Amazon US (pretty sure under $10 in China). What makes this $800+ ?

Yep lumens are additive (though your eyes perceive them logarithmically).

I don't know much about car headlights, but chatgpt says high beams are typically 25-45 watts, and assuming a generous 200lm/w that gives you 5000-9000 lm.

Roughly speaking, it's expensive because it's 50 lbs & tons of electrical components (that are much higher quality than $24 headlights).

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#13

Post by sberens »

mircerlancerous wrote: post #3

Well-written and valuable for insight whether you have similar personal experience or not. As someone who does hardware and software as well, I relate to the challenges of making something you can hold; it's very easy to underestimate the challenge difference between the two. Your Murphy's law references are spot on; I feel comforted reading I'm not the only one this happens to! Misery does love company, and it's imp…

Thanks :) It turns out "hardware is hard" isn't an exaggeration!

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#14

Post by sberens »

atif089 wrote: post #7
atif089 wrote: post #6

For someone who has no idea about light engineering or electronics if I stack two 25k Lm lamps next to each other does it make 50k Lm light? I recently changed my car's headlamps to Chinese LED which claims to be about 37kLm and I don't know how much it is probably less than that. Two of those lamps costee me around $24 on Amazon US (pretty sure under $10 in China). What makes this $800+ ?

Just to add context those are just dumb lamps and I acknowledge that the product here has a lot more features including IoT support and the ability to change Hue. Is it the ability to change Hue that makes this expensive?

The main cost driver is the sheer size/weight/power. Dimmability, adjustable CCT, and smart home controls do add a decent chunk though.

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#15

Post by mint5 »

atif089 wrote: post #6

For someone who has no idea about light engineering or electronics if I stack two 25k Lm lamps next to each other does it make 50k Lm light? I recently changed my car's headlamps to Chinese LED which claims to be about 37kLm and I don't know how much it is probably less than that. Two of those lamps costee me around $24 on Amazon US (pretty sure under $10 in China). What makes this $800+ ?

Please don’t put in extra bright headlights on cars. Stock LED headlights being to bright for other drivers is already a massively common complaint — and then we have people installing even brighter ones? Please don’t.

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#16

Post by pseudohadamard »

mircerlancerous wrote: post #3

Well-written and valuable for insight whether you have similar personal experience or not. As someone who does hardware and software as well, I relate to the challenges of making something you can hold; it's very easy to underestimate the challenge difference between the two. Your Murphy's law references are spot on; I feel comforted reading I'm not the only one this happens to! Misery does love company, and it's imp…

When I read the "I had no prior experience in hardware; I was counting on being able to pick it up quickly with the help of a couple of mechanical/electrical/firmware engineers" I was ready to curl up into a foetal position... the fact that the author actually got something like this manufactured and shipped is nothing short of miraculous, it's not just a board off JLPCB and a plastic case, this involves custom manufacturing of metal parts and whatnot, and I take my hat off to him for managing it.

This is also why so many crowdfunded projects fail, people go into it with no idea of how hard it is to get something to market and waaaay underestimate the time and cost. Years ago for the first project we did we took an absolute worst-case estimate, then doubled the time and cost on that. We came in on time and under budget, but only just.

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