I have received a sample of the magnetic valve from a supplier in china. The magnetic valve will operate on 12V regardless of the overall power source. We will test thoroughly samples from several suppliers in order to find just the right type for our use.
Today I have received the first samples of our new devices. They look amazing. It feels we are very close to the real production!
We have come truly a long way since the first prototype.
A little update of the packaging – I was complaining the packaging should hit at the algae problems we will try to solve with the device J
Today we have received a new design proposal for the retail packaging. It is still not perfect for my liking, but it is getting somewhere.
Update of the screens designs – they include the reminders and some more detailed setup screens.
After serious discussion with Sergey’s boss (he actually has a boss, even though he is a freelancer). They agreed on more rigorous logging of the time spent and on more frequent application builds in the future. I certainly hope this works out.
We have a couple of new app scree design proposals. They look awesome!
Unfortunatelly, Sergey does not deliver according to expectations on the mobile app. His reaction times are very long and scarce. I had paused the contract today as I have not yet received any meaningful delivey after almost a month (fully charged of course) 🙁
We have finalized the specification for CO2 management. The CO2 control is based on measuring the pH of the water and based on the values turning on /off solenoid valve which will block/allow the flow of CO2 to the aquarium. There is a described relationship between dissolved CO2 in water and pH of the water. Implementation on both Firmware and mobile app are under way.
We have a first graphic impression how the application could look. Hopefully Sergey is able to implement this kind of design in the Vue.js framework he chose for the app.
The ESP32 modules have arrived. They are still a bit hard to get and pricey, but we believe they will replace ESP8266 as a standard for these kind of appliances.
I have also received various samples of wifi antenna
And the 12/24V power source reduction. We decided to use DIN-4 connector, as this is the only one able to handle the maximum of 10A @ 24V which we will support. For lower power existing sources, users will be able to use the supplied reduction from barrel jack connector.
Today, I have reached out to a couple of local companies, which provide mobile app development services. The reason is, that I feel I have very little control over the app development when working with the remote freelance developers. The progress is very slow and it doesn’t seem to improve. From my other projects, I am used to local teams, where we share the information very frequently and work closely together. The problem with these local companies is, that their services are way more pricey than the of the freelancers. But as it turns out, this might be actually better choice in the long run.
