====Long version:

The goods news

1. The Batmobile's molds for injection molding are at 50% completion. The supplier is having some difficulties due to peak season, but we will start receiving the first batches of injection-molded plastic casings in the next week or so.

2. We have received most of the critical semiconductors, such as the microcontrollers

3. All of the critical components have been ordered

4. We received the entire quantity of li-po batteries for the Batmobile and the controller last week - this one was critical due to the Lithium shortage

5. All of the LCD displays for the controllers have arrived at our HQ

6. The controller’s casings are at 80% completion - we’re manufacturing this in-house on our laser cutter

7. We’ve designed the test jigs for the circuit boards.
The test jigs are used for loading firmware and testing the boards once they’re finished with production.

This is what they usually look like:

We’re going to have two jigs - one for the car’s board, the other one for the controller’s board:

8. We’ve started manufacturing and assembling the boards for the car’s taillights - these circuit boards have five red LEDs on the back that create the “fire” effect on the exhausts.

9. We’ll soon receive all of the circuit boards needed to start with the assembly. We can assemble the boards fairly quickly - in 7 - 10 days after we receive them.

The bad news

1. We see the logistics and shipping chains worldwide worsening every week.
This is partially caused by the peak season (Black Friday, Christmas) and partially because of the ongoing logistic crisis building up (covid, political tensions, the war).

This is going to get better, especially after Christmas.

But promising a pre-Christmas delivery date to all of our backers right now is impossible.

2. There is one crucial component that we’re still waiting for - the electromotors.

Four motors go into your Batmobile, and we’ve been having a hard time sourcing them.
The suppliers have been citing supply chain issues and the lack of raw materials (steel) for their inability to supply them.
The problem was that no supplier in the world had the whole amount of motors we needed (we’re ordering 14000 motors), and they were giving us lead times of around 40 - 60 days.

We’ve found a reliable supplier and negotiated a 35-day lead time.
This interfered with our plans and is preventing us from shipping the product.

3. We’ve been having trouble with Warner approving the Batmobile’s packaging.

What puzzles me is that getting the approval for the product itself was a straightforward process, but the packaging was a process that took us two months to get approved.

Warner is just doing their best to protect its intellectual property, we understand that, and they’re one of our most valued partners.

But I wish we could’ve gotten the packaging approved earlier.

Apparently, they’re seeing an increased demand for product approvals, and they had internal delays.

The good news is that we have gotten the approval for the packaging today, and we’ve already sent it to the print shop.

We’re almost there, thank you for sticking with us

I understand your disappointment with the news, and I am not happy with the situation.

But simply being unhappy is not going to deliver your Batmobiles.
Therefore, we’ll continue giving our maximum to deliver a truly fantastic product as soon as possible.

Providing hard delivery dates for a product that is being manufactured is a very tough job right now.

The plan remains the same - we’ll start shipping the Batmobile as soon as possible, most likely in December.

We’ll choose the best shipping option to deliver this to your location as quickly as possible.

But, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee Christmas delivery to every one of you.

Thank you for understanding our position, and I’m looking forward to seeing Batmobiles finally delivered to all of you loyal supporters.

This product would not be possible without your support and patience.

I’ll keep writing weekly updates on our progress.

Thanks

We made significant progress in the last week.

First of all, we received final approval for the molds and designs of the Batmobile and Batcontroller, which are currently being manufactured.

Here are a few photos of what the final geometry is going to look like (the paint job is not final).

                                                        Batcontroller silicone controller case

The other thing we are working on is laser-cutting Batmobile’s and Batcontroller’s casings.

And, last but not least - Batmobile’s booklet!

Each kit will include a booklet that will tell you more about Batmobile, its development, features, and CircuitMess.

We completed it and received final approval from Warner, and it’s currently being printed.

Here is a sneak-peak of what it will look like:

We are getting back to laser-cutting and Batmobile production.

Stay tuned for more updates,
 Albert and the CM team

Also, we finished redesigning the Batmobile controller, and here is the final version:

We love the new look and can’t wait to hear your feedback.

More updates coming soon, so stay tuned!

-Albert and the CM team

For the past two months, the entire team has been very busy working on the Batmobile,

The ongoing worldwide logistics and semiconductor crisis remains our main fun-generators.

We had to perform some product changes and tweaks; thus, here’s a detailed update on what’s happening.

Batmobile’s controller changes (stronger CPU for the same price)

The initial BatController design ran on an ESP8266 module (single-core CPU with WiFi).

We had to replace it with a stronger CPU - the ESP32.

Unfortunately, during the development of the final firmware version, we concluded that we couldn’t cram all of the software caboodles while still maintaining satisfactory performance.

The initial prototype on Kickstarter didn’t have all of the controller’s software features we had planned, and it was running fine.

Initially, the plan was to include extra software features by doing software optimizations.

It turns out things are not working out the way we planned, and, unfortunately, the device was operating with too much lag after all of the added changes and optimizations.

Therefore, we’ve concluded that the only proper way forward is to swap the ESP8266 for a stronger CPU - a dual-core ESP32.

We’ve already gotten the controller's new version, and the performance is superb.

What’s not superb is that this will raise the overall cost of goods for the device by 7%, but we’ll cover that since making a good product is our #1 priority.

Just a short comparison - ESP8266 vs. ESP32:

• ESP32: a dual-core processor that runs at 160MHz to 240MHz, whereas the ESP8266 is a single-core processor that runs at 80MHz.
• The ESP32 includes an extra CPU core, faster Wi-Fi, more GPIOs, and supports Bluetooth 4.2 and Bluetooth low energy

Inventor’s Pack modules

Another change we had to make was to replace the magnetic connectors on the Inventor’s pack modules with nonmagnetic ones.

Unfortunately, due to the component shortage, our supplier gave us a three months+ lead time for the magnetic connectors, which would result in an unacceptable production delay.

We had to make the difficult decision of replacing the connectors with a different non-magnetic model.

However, this change will not affect the module's functionality and will provide you with a fun and exciting learning experience.

This is what the new modules look like:

Overall progress so far

I’m happy to announce that we’ve gotten the final approval for Batmobile’s packaging from Warner.

The boxes are currently being manufactured and we’ll receive them on October 17th.

We’ve settled for a slightly more futuristic box design compared to the initial one shown in the Kickstarter campaign:

Other notable milestones include:

• We’ve ordered 60% of the electronic and mechanical components needed to build the Batmobile, and we’ll receive them by mid-October. The rest of of the components will be ordered by October 12th, and we’re planning to have everything in our warehouse by the end of October
• We’ve managed to source all of the Li-Po batteries for the Batmobile and the controller, which proved to be a tricky task due to the shortages
  
• We’ve received all of the Bat-merch, such as t-shirts, keychains, etc.:

What happens next

We have to finalize the following tasks before shipping the product to your addresses:

• Order the final PCBs (planned for October 15th)
• Finalize and polish the firmware (planned for late November)
• Print out all of the boxes and purchase the rest of the electronic components (by October 15th)
• Assemble and test the circuit boards and have them delivered to you before Christmas.

The Batmobile’s final casing had to be slightly changed due to a few final requests from Warner:

Covid lockdowns in China and supply chain issues

These are the two main issues we’re facing now that have been messing with our plans for the past year.

The current economic and logistical situation has not made things easy for us. Constant shipping delays and lockdowns in China have made our development process longer and more challenging than anticipated.

New estimated shipping date - end of November / beginning of December

Unfortunately, the shipping date was pushed to the end of November and the beginning of December for all orders.

I understand the situation isn’t ideal with constant delivery pushbacks.

Rest assured that we’re doing everything we can to deliver a truly fantastic product.

I am also aware a lot of you are counting on this as a Christmas gift, and I will do everything in my power to get your Batmobiles delivered to you before Christmas.

======

We expect to have all the components needed to begin production of the Batmobile by the end of the month, giving us enough time to start shipping the first boxes at the end of November.

We take delays seriously and will continue to work hard to deliver the product to all of you as soon as possible.

Please note that we have paused all of our other projects to deliver the best possible version of Batmobile as soon as possible and that delivering this to your chimneys before Christmas is our #1 priority.

To keep all of you informed, we will make sure to post updates more frequently.

Thank you all for sticking with us and helping us make this amazing project happen.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message - I read and reply to all of the messages I get.

- Albert and the rest of the CM team

CircuitPets are currently being shipped, and you should receive them in the next two weeks.

If you haven’t received a confirmation mail with the tracking link yet, don’t worry; your CircuitPet is on its way, and everyone will receive the mail by the end of the next week.

We changed the shipping order

Another important piece of information is that instead of Clockstar, the next STEM Box you’ll get will be Armstrong.

Why did we change the shipping order?

The main issue we faced during the last year and a half was the ongoing semiconductor shortage and general supply chain problems.

We'd develop a product just to figure out that a critical component such as a processor completely disappeared from the market.

As a solution to this issue, we decided to switch the shipping order while we continue to search for a solution to the chip sourcing issue.

So, Clockstar will be shipped right after Armstrong.

This is the new shipping schedule:

What is Armstrong?

Armstrong is a DIY robotic arm that looks like this:

Armstrong can be programmed to perform different tasks - a perfect help for the upcoming lazy winter days.

With Armstrong, you’ll learn about:

• Soldering and hardware assembly
• Robotic arms and industrial automation
• Reflective color sensors
•  Microcomputers and other electronic components
• Coding in C++
• Controlling servo motors using a microcomputer
• Embedded programming
• Coding IFTT tasks
   

One other cool thing about Armstrong is the ability to connect it to Wheelson and ByteBoi.
You’ll use Wheelson as a super-smart robotic car and ByteBoi as a controller for Wheelson.

The estimated shipping date for Armstrong is in December.

Thank you for your understanding, and keep making!
-Albert and the CM team

We started shipping your next STEM Box kits and are working during the weekends and around the clock to deliver the kits to your doorstep as soon as possible. We can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Here's a quick look at what the shipping process looks like :

The excitement is real; get ready to build and code your virtual pet.

Stay tuned for more updates!

- Albert & the CircuitMess team

We've spent the last two weeks producing CircuitPet's PCBs.

Both hardware and software are finished, and the final version looks fantastic!

We've also begun packing your orders, and here's a photo of our warehouse (yes, all of these boxes are CircuitPet kits!).

Also, we are currently working on a Coding guide to assist you in programming all sorts of cool things on your virtual pet.

The good news is that CircuitPet’s delivery will start next week, and you will receive a confirmation email with the tracking number once it is shipped.

Take a look at the fun times we had during CircuitPet’s photoshoot:

And last but not least, the CircuitPet usage guide is finished, and you can check what cool games and features it will have.

Here is a sneak peek:

Stay tuned for more info soon.

You'll soon start receiving your tracking numbers.

As always, thank you for your support, and keep making 👋

-Albert and the CM team

We were busy working on CircuitPet’s software this month, and it is finally done!

Here is a sneak peek of what you’ll see once you assemble and turn your CircuitPet on:

As always, we've created a very detailed build guide that will help make the assembly process as fun and easy as possible, and it's now online.

You can find the build guide at the following link:

https://learn.circuitmess.com/resources/guides/en/circuitpet-build-guide

Also, we prepared an anatomy guide that’ll introduce you to all the components and chips used for making CircuitPet.

Here is the link to the anatomy guide:

https://learn.circuitmess.com/resources/guides/en/circuitpet-anatomy-guide

Take a look at the assembly process:

• There’ll be soldering

• A lot of small components

• Tricky parts

• Cool add-ons

Now that you have seen everything, you must wonder, when will you ship my package?

Well, great news! We are in the final stages of producing CircuitPet,

and are starting to pack everything.

We’ll ship your next STEM Box in the following two weeks.

You’ll be informed when the shipping starts - we’ll post an update once again, and you’ll get an email with the tracking link.

Thank you for your support,

Albert and the CM team

As we mentioned in one of our past updates, we finished Batmobile's casing design and have ordered prototype versions of it to test out.  The prototype arrived this week and it's looking good. 

Batmobile's casing will be injection molded and will look something like this: 

Stay tuned for more updates!

-Albert & the CircuitMess team

Synthia's coding guide is now online! You can find it here.

We've prepared a few short tutorials to guide you through the basics of coding your Synthia in CircuitBlocks. We'll show you have to do some cool things on the LED matrix and how to use inputs in a fun way.

Here's a sneak peek at one of the sketches from the guide:

We hope you’ll have a lot of fun coding your Synthia.

Keep making!

- Albert & the CircuitMess Team

This week we received the final versions of CircuitPet's PCBs. Check them out: 

Now, we're working on finalizing its software. We're really excited about CircuitPet and can't wait for you to receive it! 

More updates are coming soon. 

-Albert & the CircuitMess team

This week we received Batmobile's PCBs. Now, we have to assemble them and test them out to make sure they're all good. 

The PCB is looking pretty snazzy. Check it out: 

Stay tuned for more updates!

-Albert & the CircutiMess Team

This week, we worked on Batmobile's casing and have ordered prototype versions to test and check before moving forward. 

Here's a sneak peek:

Other than that, we finished designing the silicone soldering mat you were able to get as an add-on during the campaign. 

Besides its main purpose of protecting the surface you're working on, this mat will have different indented sections where you'll be able to organize all the components to help stay on top of things while assembling a project.  

Check it out: 

More updates are coming soon! 

- Albert & the CircuitMess team

AI

As we grow up, we have to learn new things and take further actions that help us discover new meanings, allowing us to learn from past experiences. The exact process digital computers or computer-controlled robots use when they use artificial intelligence.

Then how could we explain AI? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability to simulate human intelligence processes such as discovering meaning, ability to reason, generalizing, or learning from past experience. Artificially intelligent machines can remember behavior patterns and adapt their responses according to learned behaviors. Once all these happen, computer systems use algorithms that allow them to perform tasks such as decision-making, speech recognition, visual perception, and translation between languages.

Now, if you ever asked yourself if robots are an example of Artificial Intelligence, get ready to get disappointed. Our answer is no, not exactly. If you ever watched Terminator or the movie I, Robot, most of you remember superintelligent systems and supercomputers that deemed the human race. In most movies, Hollywood depicts AI as superintelligent robots. However, robotics and AI are two completely separate fields. Yet, these two fields can overlap to create artificially intelligent robots in today's world.

Personal robot for every day use

The perfect examples are the warehouse or household robots. These robots use path-finding algorithms to navigate around, whereas an AI algorithm helps them perform more complex tasks. Nonetheless, these complex tasks are nothing like what you would see in an apocalyptic movie, as these robots would need to learn a million little patterns to become even in the slightest, super independent. Still, even if they would, they would not become that powerful. So, no need to get scared by robots just yet.

If you wish to understand more about how AI works in tech, check our Wheelson STEM box. This AI-powered robot demonstrates how autonomous vehicles work. Yet again, to understand how this works, we must address the types of AI.

Wheelson STEM box; AI self-driving car

4 Types of AI

Machines use different processes to perform various tasks. Technologies that make AI perform are machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and deep learning.

ML refers to a process where a machine learns from ongoing feedback from algorithms and humans and the data from this feedback. ML then helps the device respond and adapt better before making new actions.

NLP is a linguistic tool that enables machines to interpret and read human language by translating human language into computer inputs. Pretty cool, right? Think of it as "machines language".

Deep learning is a type of machine learning and artificial intelligence that allows machines to imitate the ways how humans gain certain kinds of knowledge. In data science, this type is very important, as it includes statistics and predictions. In real-life, we use deep learning for automotive researchers to automatically detect objects such as stop signs and traffic lights. It is also used to detect pedestrians, which helps decrease accidents.

Wheelson; car with autonomous car with object recognition and image processing

Just like humans and their skills, we can separate AI by their types which goes from simple to most advanced levels of functioning. These types are:

• Reactive Machines
• Limited Memory
• Theory of Mind
• Self -Awareness

If you ever played computer chess, you were likely beaten by a computer at some point. Why is that? Because chess-playing supercomputer is reactive and knows each of the moves of identified pieces. Just like computer chess, the simplest AI systems are reactive. Reactive machines react to inputs (information) with some outputs (results).

Unlike reactive machines, systems with limited memory can look at the recent past to make better instant decisions. These systems store previous data to predict better in the future. Think of self-driving cars that use sensors to identify traffic signals as an example.

Theory of mind is AI's system's ability to attribute a mental state where it understands that people have feelings, thoughts, and expectations of how they want to be treated. A smart car needs to make reliable predictions about human behavior in real-time, such as pre-emptively adjusting speed and course to cope with a child's possible decision to cross the road in front of them abruptly.

Bot; a robot that simulates human behaviors

This theory is where things got quite tricky in our world, as this theory made many imaginative minds suspect that robots, aka machines, could rule the world instead of humans. However, as humans' behaviors are unpredictable, for the same reason, machines can not predict everything, and because of that, they can not become super intelligent.

Self-aware machines can form a representation of themselves as they act as the advancement of the Theory of Mind. These AI machines can desire, think, and understand their feelings. Thankfully, as mentioned previously, at the moment, these machines do not exist in real life and exist only in comic books and movies. (Watch: Blade Runner, Ron's Gone Wrong, I Robot)

Now when you have learned more about AI, here are some of the

Examples of AI

• Self-driving cars
• Robo-advisors
• Siri, Alexa, and other smart assistants
• Netflix's recommendations
• Conversational bots

Batmobile stem toy; AI-powered robot car

Nowadays, AI can be found everywhere around us. It serves as a form of entertainment, but it also provides countless utilities that we have become dependent on.

Whatever the future brings with new AI machines, from new robot "friends" to household gadgets that help you in your daily chores, our DIY science kits for kids teach the fun part of each hi-tech component. Our STEM boxes are a great peek into the future, and to start learning more about electronics, especially computer science, so be sure to check all our DIY projects.

We started shipping out Synthias this week.

We're working double shifts, producing them as fast as we can.

We estimate to have them all shipped to you in the next 7 - 10 days. You'll start getting tracking numbers to your email inbox as we ship out the orders.

Here are a few behind the scenes photos: 

Thanks to your amazing help and support, CircuitMess STEM Box was funded almost two years ago. Since then, we have successfully fulfilled five unique STEM Boxes Spencer, Jay-D, Wheelson, ByteBoi and Chatter. 

While developing these products, we had a lot of fun, and we learned so much. None of that would be possible without the support from all of you amazing backers! So, thank you for everything! 

Clockstar was scheduled as the seventh STEM Box we'd fulfil, but unfortunately, we had to change this.

Clockstar's fulfilment will be pushed to a later date, and the seventh STEM Box will be a brand new product called Circuitpet. 

This is the current STEM Box shipping order: 

 Why are you making this change?

The main issue we faced during the last year and a half was the ongoing semiconductor shortage and general supply chain problems. 

We'd develop a product just to figure out that a critical component such as a processor completely disappeared from the market.

As a solution to this issue, we decided to switch the shipping order while we continue to search for a solution to the chip sourcing issue.

So, Clockstar will be shipped as the eighth box, right after Circuitpet. 

Circuitpet is a product we're very proud of and are sure it will be a worthy and fun replacement for Clockstar in the seventh STEM Box.

CircuitPet - build your own Tamagotchi

Circuitpet is a DIY virtual pet game similar to Tamagotchi.

With Circuitpet, you'll bring your own digital pet duck to life. Just like with any other pet, you can play with it, take care of it, love it and help it grow! 

This pet duck is actually a mechanical duck that you have to keep alive and safe from rust. To do that,  you'll play six preloaded minigames and collect XP to help your pet grow and keep it happy and safe from rusting.

Circuitpet will teach you about always-on technology, RTC (real-time clocks), coding, microcomputers, electronic components and much more.

Circuitpet is equipped with: 

• 160x128 display 
• Li-Po battery
• piezzo buzzer
• four pushbuttons
• flashy LEDs

We're looking forward to you all raising your own pet duck with Circuitpet and learning about new technological topics along the way.

If you have any questions regarding this change, please reach out to us at contact@circuitmess.com, and we'll help you out  :)

Stay tuned for more updates!

- Albert & the CircuitMess team

We are very fortunate to be sharing another amazing initiative from our partners at  Shiny Gloves Club- a non-profit organization committed to providing free education to children in impoverished communities in Africa.

Their latest initiative is a GoFundMe campaign to help one of their students, Blessing Yohanna, attend an engineering university in Nigeria.

Help make her dream come true and donate here ➡️ https://www.gofundme.com/f/byf-a-fund-to-help-lowincome-girls-study-stem

Watch Blessing's full story here.

Meet Blessing Yohana - an electronics inventor and one of the best students in Shiny Gloves Club's engineering program.

She graduated from high school two years ago and wants to study engineering, but her family cannot afford to send her to university. 

Blessing's father was initially unwilling to support her wish to become an engineer, not only due to their family's economic conditions but also because of her gender.

In Nigeria, where Blessing is from, gender discrimination often keeps girls out of school. According to UNICEF's research, more than half of the girls in northern Nigeria are not in school.

To help with this, Shiny Gloves Club set up a GoFundMe campaign to help fund Blessing's education at an engineering university in Nigeria.

Let's make Blessing's dream come true 👉 donate here & help support Blessing's education and girls in STEM.

We're currently working on Batmobile's electronics and are examining them for any errors in order to remove them all before production.

Check out the schemes below to see what Batmobile's electronics look like currently. 

======

Don't forget to fill out your shipping address survey. We won't be able to ship out your Kickstarter reward without your shipping information.

If you haven't received your survey or need help with filling it out, reach out to us at contact@circuitmess.com, and we'll help you out.

Stay tuned for more updates!

- Albert

Exciting news this week - we've received Synthia's parts and have started its production process.

Take a sneak peek at our production space filled with shelves and boxes of bits and pieces we'll use to produce Synthia:

While producing Synthia, we're simultaneously working on its software and making progress.

Stay tuned for more updates!

- Albert & the CircuitMess team

While working on Batmobile, we've simultaneously started the production of Synthia. Synthia is one of the items included in the Collector's Pack that was available as an add-on in our campaign. 

Here's a sneak peek at our production space filled with shelves and boxes of bits and pieces we'll use to produce Synthia:

While producing Synthia, we're simultaneously working on its software and making progress.

=========

If you haven't already, please fill out the shipping survey, we sent to the email address associated with your Kickstarter account. 

Kickstarter does not collect your shipping address when you back a project.  Instead, we have to send out a survey that collects addresses from all you amazing backers. 

Also, Kickstarter didn't collect the shipping costs for your pledge, so you will be charged for the shipping costs in the survey as well. 

Please fill out the survey as soon as you can in order to receive your pledge, as we can't ship out your Kickstarter reward without your shipping information.

If you haven't received your survey yet, email us at contact@circuimess.com, and we'll help you out!

Stay tuned for more updates!

- Albert

Unfortunately, this week has been full of inconveniences that are impacting our development. 

Global transport slowed down due to geopolitical conflicts and increased gas prices. The current lockdown in China closed down all the hardware factories in Shenzhen, which also significantly impacts us and our ability to obtain the parts we need to continue the development. 

Development is still going forward, but these events are not making it any easier. 

An interesting change is that we're testing out the new version of the ESP32 chip released this year. 

ESP32 is the main processor used on the Batmobile. It's basically Batmobile's brain that handles all the bit crunching related to camera recognition and wireless communication. 

The new version we're testing is called  ESP-S3-12K. It has new functions, more CPU speed and more memory.

If you want to learn more about ESP-S3-12K, check this out: https://hitechchain.se/startsida/ai-thinker-esp-s3-12k-wi-fible-module

Even with these challenges, we're still pushing through and giving it our all to continue the development.

As always, we'll keep you posted, so stay tuned. 

-Albert

CircuitMess STEM Box was successfully funded 18 months ago thanks to your fantastic help and support.

Since then, we have successfully fulfilled five unique STEM Boxes:

- Spencer

- Jay-D

- Wheelson

- ByteBoi

- Chatter 

While designing every box, we've learned a lot and had so much fun. 

Thanks to your amazing support, all of these products were made possible (you rock!).

Clockstar - a DIY Smartwatch - was scheduled as the sixth STEM Box.

Unfortunately, we had to change this.

Clockstar will be pushed to a later date, and the sixth STEM Box will be Synthia instead.

 Why are you performing this change?

Due to the ongoing semiconductor and supply chain shortage, we've faced development issues.

The past year was the best year for CircuitMess so far and the most challenging one.

We'd develop a product just to figure out that a critical component such as a processor disappeared from the market.

These situations required us to scrap months worth of valuable development time and find a new solution available on the market.


Mislav - one of the hardware devs here at CircuitMess - praying to the semiconductor gods during these challenging times

This is what happened with Clockastar's development right now - the initial design shown in the Kickstarter campaign proved to be unproducable in the current environment.

Specific chips such as the accelerometer and gyroscope chip vanished from the market.

This required us to search for alternatives, which caused a significant development setback.

As a solution to this issue, we've decided to go with Snythia instead while we search for a solution to the chip sourcing issue.

We will eventually ship Clockstar in one of the following boxes, but we need more time to make it happen. 

Synthia is a product that I'm very proud of, and I am confident it will be a worthy replacement for Clockstar for the sixth STEM Box.

When will it be shipped?

STEM Box #6 (Synthia) will be shipped in April.

What the quack is Synthia? 

We've introduced Syntia in one of our previous Kickstarter updates, but here's a brief overview to refresh your memory. 

Synthia is a DIY digital musical sampler. 

It combines some functions of a sampler, drum machine, sequencer, and synthesizer.

With Synthia, you'll learn how microcomputers and other electronic components are used for sound production.

You will be able to create unique music by playing with the pre-loaded sound samples or recording your own sound samples with the built-in MEMS microphone.

Synthia is equipped with:

• A dual-core CPU (ESP32)
• Five pushbuttons
• Two encoder knobs
• Two slider potentiometers
• MEMS microphone for recording samples
• A dedicated DAC with a Class-D amplifier
• 1W speaker
• USB-C
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 121 flashy LEDs
  
  

Check out the latest circuit board silkscreen design - this will be on the back of the device explaining the different functions it has



We're looking forward to you all creating your own music with Synthia! 

If you have any questions regarding this change, please reach out to us at contact@circuitmess.com, and we'll help you out  :)

Stay tuned for more updates!

- Albert & the CircuitMess team

All the shipping information surveys have now been sent out, so you all should have received it inbox by now.  

About 48% of you filled it out, so please fill yours out as soon as possible if you haven't already. 

If you haven't received the survey yet, we've sent it to the email address associated with your Kickstarter account so be sure to check your inbox and the spam folder.  

If you still can't find it or if you need the survey sent to a different email address, please get in touch with us at contact@circuitmess.com.

This survey will collect your shipping information as we can't ship out your Batmobile without it. 

The shipping cost will also be charged with this survey, so here's the shipping cost table as a reminder: 

If you need help filling out the survey, check out the videos below. 

If you've pledged the CircuitMess Batmobile Exclusive Option, check this video.

If you've selected any other perk (that is not a $1 exclusive option), check this video.

Here's a quick update on Batmobile's development.

As you might remember from our previous update, we decided to use a different CPU model from the one we were hoping to use as it vanished from the market. The chip we'll in Batmobile use is called ESP32-S3. We added 4MB RAM and 16MB flash memory to it. We also added 3 light sensors for line following.

Check it out below:

Here are a few rendered images of the PCB. It's not entirely finished yet, but it's looking good so far: 

Thank you so much for your support so far. 

Stay tuned for more updates.

- Albert & the CircuitMess team

Chatter's coding guide is now online! You can find it here. 

As for the Anatomy guide, it’s live as well. Check it out here and learn about the components on Chatter’s board.

We've prepared a few short tutorials that will guide you through the basics of coding your Chatter in CircuitBlocks. We'll show you have to do some cool things like display text and icons & play different sounds.

Here's a sneak peek at one of the sketches from the guide:

We hope you’ll have a lot of fun customizing your Chatter.

Keep making!

- Albert & the CircuitMess Team

This is a quick update to let you know that your shipping address surveys are being sent out.

Why do I need to fill out this survey?

Kickstarter does not collect your address when you back a project.  Instead, we have to send out a survey that collects addresses from all you amazing backers. 

Also, Kickstarter didn't collect the shipping costs for your pledge. 

You will be charged for the shipping costs in the survey. 

Here's the shipping cost table as a quick reminder: 

How will I receive the survey? 

You will get an email with a link to the survey in the following days.

Please check your email inbox and the spam folder. 

We will use the email associated with your Kickstarter account.

If you need the survey sent to a different email address, please contact us via contact@circuitmess.com

We are using a service called Backerkit for sending out the survey.

Until when do I have to do it? 

Please fill them out as soon as you can in order to receive your pledge as we can't ship out your Kickstarter reward without your shipping information. 

Add-ons available at an exclusive price

When filling out the survey, you'll also have the possibility to add additional add-ons for a special price if you missed out on getting something that you wanted during the campaign. 

How do I fill out the survey? 

Here's a video that will guide you through the process of filling out the survey. 

The survey is a bit different depending on your pledge.

If you've pledged the CircuitMess Batmobile Exclusive Option, check this video.

If you've selected any other perk (that is not a $1 exclusive option), check this video.

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In other news, we displayed our Batmobile at the new Batman movie premiere. It feels surreal but the event was tons of fun. The movie was awesome as well. Have you had a chance to watch it yet? 

Check out a few photos from the event below: 

Please fill out the survey as soon as possible!

Stay tuned for more updates!

-Albert 

All Chatter kits have now been shipped, and you should be getting them shortly if you haven't received them yet. So, we're sure you're very excited to build them as soon as possible. :)

As always, we've created a very detailed build guide that will help make the assembly process a breeze, and it's now online.

You can find the build guide at the following link: https://learn.circuitmess.com/resources/guides/en/chatter-build-guide

Here's a quick sneak peek of a few assembly steps from the build guide: 

Once you're done assembling, you can immediately start texting and playing around with your Chatters, so be sure to check out the usage guide if you need any help with how to do this.

Find Chatter's usage guide here: https://learn.circuitmess.com/resources/guides/en/chatter-usage-guide

Stay tuned for more updates as Chatter's coding guide is coming soon!

- Albert & the CircuitMess team

There's no time to rest here at CircutiMess. We're currently hard at work on the hardware design of Batmobile's controller. 

Here's a sneak peek at the controller's PCB design that we're working on:

Stay tuned for more updates!

- Albert

It's been a busy few weeks for us here at CircuitMess. We're hard at work getting Batmobile ready for production, and we're currently working on Batmobile's software. 



Our lead software developer, Filip, preaching the way of clean code.



There's truly never a dull moment here, so stay tuned for more updates as we move onto the next phases of Batmobile's development. 

Thank you so much for your support! 

- Albert

So far, we've shipped out 80% of Chatter kits and are working during the weekends and around the clock to deliver the rest of the kits to your doorstep as soon as possible. We can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Here's a quick look at what the packing process looks like :




Chatter's packaging looking snazzy



The excitement is real; get ready to build and code your pair of Chatters. 

Stay tuned for more updates!

- Albert & the CircuitMess team

I hope you had some rest during the winter holidays and that you're now energized and back to your regular crunch.

Here at CircuitMess, we were hard at work to get your fifth STEM Box delivered to your door - Chatter. 

I'm happy to announce that, despite the ongoing difficulties with semiconductor sourcing and shipping, your chatters are in the finishing phase of the development and will start shipping out in about seven days. 

To get Chatters produced and delivered, we had to perform some changes to the initial prototype shown in the Kickstarter campaign in 2020.

The hardware changes were done in order to:

1. make the chatter work in the best way possible

2. make the chatter producible with the components available on the market right now

3. account for the rising costs of semiconductors. We always try to deliver the best products possible. Still, sometimes, we cannot use a component that was initially put into the prototype shown in 2020 because the prices of specific components skyrocketed. 

Here is a detailed list of changes that we've performed:

1. we've radically improved the esthetic and the functionality of the software.

The software now works in a way more similar to Whatsapp,  Facebook Messenger, or other messaging apps that you're used to using. 

It includes a new set of functionalities, including:

- pairing with multiple devices

- friends lists

- multiple chats with chat history 

- on-screen notifications 

- chat color customization

- user avatar customization 

- fancy gif animations and a complete UI overhaul 

- a set of unique memes that we've designed 

2. we've switched from a single-core processor to a dual-core CPU.

At first, we wanted to pull this off with a single-core processor (ESP8266).

We've figured out that we cannot make everything work with the amount of RAM and FLASH esp8266 had, so we had to switch to his bigger brother - ESP32.


The left silverly thingy is the CPU

3. we changed the wireless communication module 

The one on the prototype was not working well enough. We've switched to a LoRa (long-range radio) module called Ra-01. This one has a metallic shield and is less prone to interference and errors; it just worked better for us. 

4. The screen is landscape instead of portrait

It turns out people liked it better when the display was in landscape orientation.  

5. USB-C 

Everyone's using it, so we've put it on your chatters as well. 

6. The buzzer is bigger and a bit louder now.

7. We've made Chatter smaller. It fits in your palm better now, and we can also fit both of them in a box that isn't super big.

8. we've switched from Li-Po to AAA alkaline batteries.

I know, I know, but we couldn't produce the chatters and still cover all the costs due to the stronger processor and the rising component prices. 

You'll get six pieces of AAA batteries in your package.

9. The Antena is smaller 

From our tests, we've figured out that the size of the external antenna affected the range minimally on our design. 

We've reduced the size of the antenna to make the device more portable and to account for the higher production costs while still not crippling the functionality of the device. 

10. we've added a keyboard sticker

We were not satisfied with the readability of the key markings printed on the circuit board, so we've switched to vinyl stickers that you can apply if you don't remember what typing on a phone in 2006 looked like.  

Bonus:

We've radically improved our quality control process by designing a new series of test jigs that test the circuit boards when they come out of the production process. 

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Stay tuned for more info soon.

You'll soon start receiving your tracking numbers.

As always, thank you for your support and keep making 👋

- Albert and the team