I am disappointed. I had planned everything so carefully as to not let this day happen, but sadly, it has. I am behind schedule.

It has been 12 weeks since the successful funding of PopPet. 12 weeks in I wanted to be beginning to package the rewards, but sadly, this is not the case.

I have received all other parts needed for PopPet except for one large order. This large order includes all the assembly hardware, the Mini Drivers and the motors. I've yet to receive this order as it has not yet been sent. 

There was a major delay in the fulfillment of the motors, the supplier I am using to get this order had a falling out with the manufacturer of their motors and as a result, are having them made by a new manufacturer. This means going through the whole prototype phase for them to make sure this new manufacturer is making the motors exactly the same.

As you can imagine, this is taking sometime, it has been delayed by 2 weeks already. But other than that, all the other parts are good to go.

In other news. I have been internet quiet for sometime now as I have been moving house. What does this mean to you? Well, with the added benefit of more room, I was able to purchase a small garden shed. This garden shed will act as the central hub of PopPet operations, meaning I can work at any time during the day or night and not disturb other family members. Having this dedicated work space will allow me to pack PopPet's much faster and more effectively. It will arrive on the 10th of this month at which point I will move all my gear into it and make a video update of the setup.

That is all for now. I will keep you all updated as things progress. Expect a short update notifying you of when the big order has been sent and another when it has arrived. Again, I apologize for this delay and I will make it up to you all in someway.

Regards,
Jaidyn

Guess what's here! Lots of cables and ultrasonic eyes!
Slowly but surely all the parts are arriving. Take a look at them all!

The laser cutter is officially up and operational!

It took some tweaking of; speed, laser power and build height, but it is cutting 3mm MDF superbly!

So what does this mean? That I will now begin cutting out the Kickstarter backer chassis's while I wait for the other parts to arrive. 

What else does this mean? That each PopPet can be unique. But I won't tell you all what this means just yet, I'll keep it a secret a little while longer. But for now, enjoy these pictures of my trials.

Finally the day has arrived, the laser cutter is here!

What an anxious wait that was! But finally my nerves are calmed, at least for now. The laser cutter arrived in perfect condition. As soon as I can I will fire it up and do a few test runs until the MDF sheets arrive, after which I will begin cutting out the PopPet chassis.

It only took a week to reach me (I missed the delivery and had to pick it up direct from the courier) which I was very happy about. The box obviously originally came from China, but it was posted from Sydney. But it was a quick delivery and it arrived in great condition so I can't complain.

In other news; Almost all of the PopPet parts have been ordered now with the exception of the battery holders. The parts will all arrive within a months time, but I will start to put together what I can with the parts I have at the time to get PopPet into your hands quicker.

Exciting times, big progress, on schedule. Couldn't be happier.

Regards,
Jaidyn

I've been quiet on here for a while, but for good reason.

Now, I believe in being completely transparent about where your backer money is going as it is your backer money which is making PopPet a reality. That said, for the past week I have been talking to a good friend of mine on the subject of laser cutters.

The original quote I got for laser cutting all of the PopPet chassis was $1.5k AUD, not including shipping. This seemed to be the best price I could get and so I used those figures in the costings. Something quite major has happened since then, I have ordered the brains, motors and screws/nuts all from the same manufacturer and have ended up saving roughly $1.3k AUD. So what does that mean? Well, if I add that amount to the laser cutting budget I get $2.8k AUD. After some heavy discussions and research, I have purchased a laser cutter with this money.

What difference will this make to you? None. PopPet's chassis will be exactly the same except I will be the one producing them, not a 3rd party facility.

What difference does this make to me? Two primary things; 1. More labour will be required to produce the chassis, but, 2. I can continue production of PopPet immediately after the initial rewards have been shipped out.

This particular machine will require some minor modifications to get it ready for heavy production work but it is more than capable of the task. 

In terms of our timeline, we are on schedule. We are five weeks from the end of the campaign and I have begun ordering parts. 

So far so good. No major delays, no monetary setbacks. All is good.

I can't wait for you all to get your PopPet's!

Regards,
Jaidyn

PopPet has a two page spread in the September issue of the SERVO magazine. Starting on page 62. Check it out!

Now that the campaign is over, the fun begins! 
Make sure to head on over and join the forums!
For all you backers out there, the forums are going to be the place to get access to your exclusive goodies. Make sure to join as soon as possible so I can begin adding you to the backer only group where I will post code, 3D printable parts and graphics that only you will get access to!
There is still a lot being added to the site so make sure to keep checking it as much as possible so you don't miss out on anything.

During the last week of the campaign I announced that I would give away a Standard PopPet kit to one lucky person who shared a status that included PopPet's campaign link and the hashtag #PopPetTheRobot. Well, that time has come.

I scoured social media and compiled a list of all the people who met the requirements and ran that through a random selection process that returned the name of the winner of a Standard PopPet kit... and that person is... *drum roll*.

Chris Dillon! Congratulations Chris! I'll be getting in contact with you shortly.

Thank you to everyone who shared PopPet's campaign on social media, it certainly did help! 

That's all for now. Regards,
Jaidyn.

It's done! All over! We even reached our first stretch goal! What an experience. Expect a video update soon.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaidynedwards/poppet-diy-arduino-compatible-open-hardware-robot

With 33 hours to go we have just passed our goal of $8000!
Thank you everyone for your continued support, whether that be backing our project or just sharing our campaign on social media.

If you want a PopPet be sure to head on over to the campaign page as soon as possible!