Oct 2024 Update Page


The files have been reviewed and here is the analysis:

As everyone knows, and without going into too many details, it was a long 6 months to get our files from the Chinese team, and we hate them more than our haters hate us.

 

So what happened? Basically, this Chinese team was hired to do work for us, and the work for the pcba and source code was not fully completed and had issues. They were fired, and we paid them so we can get all of our files. Right after they were paid, it took months to get our files. It was like pulling teeth and we faced many issues. Since they sent us the files, we’ve had zero support from them, no knowledge transfer, and no responses from them.

[Imagine buying a brand new house that was just developed, receiving the house, but not receiving the keys to the home and having lights in a home without the light switches in the walls, etc. One needs to know how to turn on the lights, how to get into the home, etc.] (If you’re confused, just move on)

Throughout the last month the Ukrainian team has had to deep dive into the system, figure out what each files/folders means, and understand the system that the Chinese architects developed for us.

 

Doesn’t sound complicated, what’s the issue? Well, whenever you are building the operating system that was created, we need to have the same environment set in order to make a build, or else it will fail. You also need to know the right commands to use in order to create a build. We’ve been given zero of this information and zero steps by the Chinese team, and they haven’t answered us, so we’ve had to run trial and errors in order to figure out what they’ve used. Each build takes approximately 4 hours to make, whether it’s a build that works or not. Figure an entire day is spent to make and test one build, and if it fails, then you have lost 1 day. The good news is we’ve finally figured it out and we can now build our software.

 

That sounds promising, are there any issues? Yes, while we have managed to finally make successful builds, we have encountered several other issues. It seems that the Chinese team gave us a little surprise when they provided the files. Many of the electronics aren’t working.

 

What’s that mean and how do we fix that? Well, we need to find where the drivers are all located and deep dive into figuring out how to turn each item on and make sure things are running. Each time we review the code and make changes, we have to make a build to test it and see if what we did had any effect, and you know how much time it takes us to make a build and test it.

 

Ok, sounds like you’ve figured it out. Well, theoretically yes. Don’t forget, the Chinese architects didn’t give us a roadmap on where to find the drivers, so it’s been time consuming and a slight guessing game to find each one of them. The Chinese team’s files also gave us more than 1 operating system, and we aren’t 100% sure which system is the right one, we think we’ve narrowed it down, but aren’t 100% sure just yet. Basically, imagine if you were expecting to receive a hard drive with a windows operating system on it, but when you received the hard drive, you received 3 operating systems and they’re not properly named. Windows Vista, Windows 11 and Windows XP.

 

Doesn’t sound terrible, you’ll figure it out soon enough if you haven’t already. What else do we have to worry about? Good question! We had issues with the OTA, but we were able to resolve that and have uploaded builds with the non-working electronics (as above) just to test it, and with the OTA, the good news is the OTA updates are working for us. Whenever an OTA update failed, we had to go back and try to figure out what the issue was, and to test it we had to create new builds – and you know how long that takes to make and test. 

 

Anything else we need to worry about? Yes. Our safe has a total of 7 different PCBAs; 1 main PCBA, and then peripheral PCBAs. Each one servers a different purpose, and we’ve received all 7 from the Chinese. The Chinese didn’t give us the complete peripheral PCBA files, and therefore we will have to rebuild the 7 PCBA schematics, etc. We expect that to take at least 1 month. We have been trying to contact the Chinese for a while, but still no response to any of our messages.

 

Anything else? Nothing that is important. We had a few setbacks with some of the files, but we’ve been able to replace, manipulate, or recode them, and now it’s working. The Chinese left us with a little more hiccups than we were expecting, but all is not lost, we just need to resolve the issues and that takes time.

 

Our plan: Over the next month we will bring the electronics up and working and bring the system to be able a working system (this means bolts, sensors, etc all will be working). Once we find that it’s working enough, (ex. as long as bolts and bolt sensors are working), then we plan to ship the trail production. Any trial production units will be updated with OTA updates to ensure the system is running as best as it can. Trial production timeline still on track - expecting 1-2 months for those to ship (Hopefully before Dec 25).

 

The good news is we haven’t found any blockers that would require us to do a complete redesign of everything (requiring 18 months time) – Yay for disaster avoided 🎉, but will know more by next update.

 

We believe it is still too soon to give an estimate, but initial assumptions are that shipments will not be shipped before April/May 2025. As our project progresses and we have a better understanding of our files, we will have a better idea of our estimated shipping date.

 

While these technical hurdles have posed significant delays, we have not been idle. Our team has been updating our safe operating system and mobile app as we want to ensure a great user experience with your safe. Our teams continue to remain fully committed to delivering your safes as quickly and efficiently as possible.

 

We kindly request your cooperation in refraining from sending emails requesting delivery dates and any negative messages, as we no longer plan to respond to those individual inquiries. Rest assured, we're actively working to expedite the process and will provide updates as soon as they become available. Your understanding and patience during this time is greatly appreciated.

 

Sorry for the delay. Thank you for your unwavering support, your understanding and patience during this time are greatly appreciated.

 

We want to remind everyone that crowdfunding is a unique opportunity to help fund ideas that you care about, and be a part of bringing projects to life. We understand that it can be discouraging when a campaign you have funded experiences delays; such as ours. However, as with any early-stage project, crowdfunding campaigns may take unexpected turns, which can include changes, delays or unforeseen challenges; which you have all seen from our updates over the last three years. While your contribution helps to bring something new closer to reality, we ask that you continue to have patience until our project is complete.

 

  

 


TLDR - SUMMARY

  • Files from China have been reviewed.

  • Chinese didn’t give us any guide, so the team is figuring out things with trial and error, which sucks up time.

  • We have been able to create builds with our operating system software.

  • China team turned off the ability to use any of the electronics on the operating system – perhaps intentional? We need to fix.

  • 6 of the PCBA files are missing files and we need to rebuild them. Those files don’t take as much time to build out as the main PCBA.

  • If all goes well, we estimate the trail production will ship out in 1-2 months.

  • Mass production won’t start to ship before May 2025.


Next update will be sent November 15, 2024

Thanks for your support!