Pyra-news March 2016

pyra-news@pyra-handheld.com

1 participants
4 discussions

First newspost coming FROM the Pyra!
by Michael Mrozek 28 Mar '16

28 Mar '16

I hope you had some great holidays. Last week was quite busy for me, I had an appointment with Global Components to discuss about the productions cost (yep, it's getting serious now), and I was also fiddling around with the prototype quite a bit. In fact, I am writing this newspost here in a train using the Pyra prototype. An excellent test for the keyboard. It takes a bit getting used to (I always hit ' when I want to press SHIFT, as that's where SHIFT was on the Pandora), but I can already type pretty fast. All keys are easily reachable, they feel good, but as you know, I already decided the keymat will be tweaked a bit to improve it even further. So, here's what happened last week... 1. Heating tests ---------------- I've started playing around with some special heat spreading, blocking and dissipation materials with quite a bit success. Currently, the unoptimized OS with all features enabled (Wifi, modem, display, all LEDs, all USB ports, etc.) and no suspend or powersaving features enabled gets quite warm without any anti-heat solution... in fact, the CPU reaches 40,1C when just sitting around for 10 minutes, using about 4W (running both cores with full load at 1 GHz uses about 6W with everything enabled) With just a few layers of cleverly placed heat blockers (to block the heat getting to the battery and the DPad) and some heat spreading as well as two copper springs added to the USB ports, the unit ran for over 40 minutes staying at a comfortable temperature of 30,2C, which is a lot better. I don't think we need to do much more (after all, those materials are the same every smartphone uses these days), and it will be enough for normal usage. For continuos high power usage, it will still be warm (like every smartphone out there), but there's nothing you can do (except for adding a fan...) 2. Meeting up with Global Components ------------------------------------ I had a meeting with GC and received the production costs for both the normal and the spiced up unit (which has 4G and a few more sensors added) As it looks like, we can keep the prospected 500 EUR price tag, but will use the better Wifi chip (which also has 5GHz speed) in the normal unit as well. What we need to find out and discuss are some MOQs (Minimum order quantity). It won't help if a MOQ for one type of the 4G module is 1000 pcs. We need to be able to mix them up (US,European versions). As usual, I'll let you know as soon as I got more informationa. 3. Meeting with BOE ------------------- My BOE contact visited me this week to check the touchscreen issue (heavy color grains) with me. Thank god it looks like it's a very simple issue. The touchscreen is currently applied with some double adhesive tape. Because of that, there's a bit of air between the glass of the touchscreen and the LCD. That air refracts the light which leads to diifused light entering the touchscreen layer. Matted touchscreens are always a bit grainy, but the added refraction makes it worse (as colors are being refracted to different directions). Another way to apply the touchscreen is using bonding. That way, a touchscreen is firmly applied to the LCD (without any air inbetween) which should solve that problem. 4. OS, developer info, updated website -------------------------------------- The first few developer units will be shipped in about a week and I'll spend the next few days to actively work on the website and Wiki to show the advantages and strength of the Pyra to newcomers on the main site and to give developers access to the current status of the OS and kernel so they can help improve the system. Any help is welcome. I'll let you know how you can help with other threads on the boards. 5. Protoype units and a preproduction run ----------------------------------------- We were able to create 10 working PCB sets from the prototype run. This is enough for the developers, but not yet for all the ordered prototypes. However, we still have a few fixes and the ordered prototypes I want to ship should have a full case and a fixed keymat (though I'll also throw in the old one in case you want to compare it). So they'll still take a while, but you'll still receive them before anyone else, no worries. 6. Preorders ------------ Well... we now got a working prototype (which I used to type this newspost), so the time for the preorders has finally come! I will now do a proper cost calculation which means the preorder won't be far away now! BTW, the battery lasts about 8 hours currently with normal desktop usage... without any powersaving included yet and all components enabled. That's pretty good already. About the same the Pandora had at the beginning without any powersavings enabled. 7. Some more thoughts --------------------- Well, honestly, what a weird feeling. Actually typing ON the Pyra on a train! It almost feels surreal! It took a long time, but we were always moving forward! You all played a huge part in the process - so thanks a lot! It's awesome seeing coming a huge project to an end! Discuss about that post here: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/first-newspost-coming-from-the-pyr…

1 0

One week with the Pyra
by Michael Mrozek 19 Mar '16

19 Mar '16

As you all know, I've had the the Pyra prototype for about a week now. What were my experiences so far? Well, don't expect me to tell you how it can be used in everyday life! We're still setting everything up, so my main focus is getting a basic working system first and testing the hardware itself. Here are some results: Case: ----- It seems to be pretty robust. Like the Pandora, I've had it with me in the pockets and it survived that. One little thing is that the LCD-to-LCD-PCB connector came off one time, but that can be fixed easily by doing a minor modification in the case (so that it keeps the connector in place). It's a bit thicker than the Pandora, but that's not really an issue (at least not for me). It feels a bit weird at the beginning, but you quickly get used to it. The rounded edges are great when you hold it in your hand for a longer time. The weight is similar to the above: It WILL be a bit heavier than the Pandora. We can't change that. The battery itself weighs 30g more. The mainboard and cases are almost the same, but right now, the LCD-PCB adds another 20g. These can be brought down a lot though. as that PCB is full-sized and takes has a few copper layers. We can cut out large areas (as not much space it needed) and remove a lot of copper, which will reduce the weight down to probably 5g or something like that. The Pandora weighs about 320g, btw. Heating: -------- I can't say too much about the heat it produces yet, but it can be quite a handwarmer. Right now, we have done nothing yet to spread or reduce the heat. We haven't put any heat spreader in there or connected it to the SD Card slots, so we're in the worst possible state now. I will do some tests with that and different heat dissipation methods once I've finished setting up the basic stuff. Additionally, right now, all components are active (so that they can be tested) and there are nearly no powersaving features included in the OS right now (the OMAP itself doesn't do any powersaving at the moment!), so that's also the worst possible state now. I can't say much about the battery life right now, as we haven't calibrated the battery yet (so I don't know when it's fully charged or empty) and as we run everything without power saving now, it wouldn't be a very accurate result. OS: --- I got our own OS to work (with MATE desktop), but haven't done much. I want to implement our keyboard layout first. WIthout it, I can't even enter my Wifi password. Yes, I know I could use a normal keyboard, but I want a mobile Pyra experience :) I'll create the keyboard layout next week so I can fully enjoy the OS. Nubs: ----- As the upper part of the case is still partly printed (and therefore a bit fragile) and I don't have a tool to calibrate the touchscreen yet, I mostly use the nubs for mouse navigation. And geez, these really rock! They're a hundred times better than Pandoras nubs, very accurate, and really usable as mouse replacement. I have issues controlling the mouse when I take the Pandora into my hands, after I've gotten used to those. They're a huge improvement! LCD / Touchscreen: ------------------ Well, since it can't all be rainbows all the time, here is my currently biggest concern. The LCD is great, but I'm not happy with the touchscreen yet. It is VERY grainy, sadly, it decreases the picture quality quite a bit. So that's something we need to fix. The bad thing is: 1000 LCDs exist with that touchscreen already applied to, so they need to be reworked. This is going to cost us a bit (probably between 5000 and 10.000 USD), but it seems we can't prevent that... How did that happen? Well, when we tested the touchscreen, the OS we were using had a black background. And you don't see the grain before black, only with bright colors. So when we approved it, we thought it was good... but now, when running the normal OS, I can see it isn't. Well, I'm trying to find out who the manufacturer of Pandoras touchscreen is (the last ones were also custom made for us), as that one really really rocks. I guess even if you try to do your best, some fallbacks happen... and here it seems we didn't test it good enough (though I have to admit I've never seen so much grain in ANY touchscreen I've ever seen, so I didn't expect that and we mostly tested the function of it). Besides cost (and more work for me), it shouldn't do any delays, as replacing the touchscreens can be done within a week and the leadtime for the PCBs is a lot longer. So, I'm mostly content with the Pyra right now, except for the touchscreen (which really frustrates me right now!), but we'll get that right as well! Heating is still a bit of a concern, but I'll concentrate on that one too, and the battery manufacturer has agreed to help us here when we provide them case data and informations where the heat spots are, so we should be fine with that. What I'm really looking forward to is when we have the system released: Improvements in the future. Thanks to the fact that everything is replaceable, it'll be fun working on new CPU boards, etc. to improve the system. Preordering: ------------ As so many of you are asking about preorders: I'm having a meeting with Global Components next week to find out the production cost details. I can then continue to work on the prototype during the easter holidays (keyboard layout, etc.) so that I'll have a good feeling about it. So preorders should start shortly after the easter holidays. Oh, ans as many mentioned they would like to get two or more: I'll probably make a discount for that. Can't say how much though until I got the final prices, right? :) https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/one-week-with-the-pyra.77116/

1 0

It's yummy! But you can't eat it!
by Michael Mrozek 11 Mar '16

11 Mar '16

https://youtu.be/d4t9Ys8wI6k I'd say we're getting there :) There are still some things we have to tweak, but thanks to that prototype, we now know WHAT we need to tweak! It's already working nicely and feeling fine! I'll continue testing and working on it during the next weeks - and hopefully with more videos for you! https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/its-yummy-but-you-cant-eat-it.77090

1 0

And suddenly it works.
by Michael Mrozek 03 Mar '16

03 Mar '16

Well, it looks like Nikolaus has mostly (or completely) resolved the power issues now. While not 100% sure yet (more testing needs to be done), he was able to run a stresstest (100% CPU load) for 10 minutes - and then he manually did shut it down - no freeze so far! Doing normal stuff, he let it run for a few hours and it didn't freeze as well. Turns out it wasn't a hardware issue (yeeha!), but mostly just a not yet properly configured power management chip. There are still a lot of other parameters to tweak, but at least we know that the hardware seems fine. Nikolaus still has a few more tests to do to confirm the remaining hardware, but the list got REALLY short now! What does that mean? Well, he can now send me a set which I can assemble into the case (as soon as I got the remaining parts). That means: The time to make videos of a real prototype can soon be made! And when that happens.... well, it's time to start the preorders! By the way, in case you didn't know: The Pyra can charge the battery even when the system is switched off. It even charges the battery when the CPU board is not even there - it's all handled by the charger chip. That's something a few of you probably know :) Okay, then a few more words about the heat: As I saw some discussions about that in a thread, here are some informations: Yes, the OMAP5 can get pretty hot. But in case you think that's only the case with the OMAP5: Nope. Almost every new CPU has that issue. Just check this information about the Raspberry Pi3. So why don't you hear much about that with modern smartphones? Simple: First, the tasks you do are usually not that demanding. You don't compile on your smartphone (though you might do that on the Pi or the Pyra), and most apps don't really stress the CPU a lot. You get occasional high peaks, but that doesn't raise the temperature a lot. If you run something demanding (i.e. Drastic with HiRes Rendering), smartphones get pretty warm as well. Well, and second: The CPU is being throttled when the temperature rises to lower the temperature again. There's no magic SoC that doesn't produce heat when they're fully used. Yes, modern ones are a bit better and provide more CPU power before they get too hot but they will also heat up when 100% stressed. So we're not a special case. That's pretty normal these days. Okay, so much for the short, but pretty good news (at least in my opinion!) See you soon! Want to leave feedback? Visit: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/and-suddenly-it-works.77045/

1 0

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

Pyra-news March 2016