First prototype tests failed

It was an incredibly frustrating day as my first prototype tests failed. While I didn’t expect the prototype to be perfect, I did believe that any failure would be a fault in my specifications, not because it wasn’t made properly.

As mentioned last week, my new prototype won’t stay together because the connector piece is still failing off. I thought I solved it last night by putting painter’s tape around the pin to make it slightly larger, but it didn’t hold.

The only good thing about today is that I did learn some new things about what the customer needs. The product itself also showed all promise that it would solve the intended problems with their pet. Oh yes, I also got a lot of doggie love.

Robert the Dog as Prototype Tester
Prototype Tester – Robert the Dog

Nevertheless, I’m clearly going to have to come up with a different solution over the next few weeks to avoid another prototype test failure. I only have a little bit of time left to demonstrate it properly on video for the crowdfunding campaign.

Meeting with my manufacturer

Today I spent the day in Brisbane to have a meeting with my manufacturer. The primary objective was to finalise the design on Product #3 as I need: 1) to know how much I need to raise with the crowdfunding campaign; and 2) we need to apply for the provisional patent before the campaign starts.

This gives us a deadline of design completion and costs calculated by end of August and the prototype complete by mid-September. I know that we are really pushing that deadline, but it is doable as there really is only one final design feature to decide.

Moving forward!