Air Metal Detector: The Smart Bluetooth Metal Detector!

A bit of good news. Finally.
over 4 years ago – Sat, Jun 06, 2020 at 02:13:04 AM

Dear backers,

First of all let us apologize from the bottom of our hearts for letting you hang here for so long without updates! We though that everyone interested is visiting our FB page where updates come more regularly and with pictures and video. Big mistake. 

We have a lot to say. First of all the reasons for the delay:

1. We had all sorts of production set up issues on the way ranging from changing suppliers/assemblers of key parts several time to ensure proper quality and precise coil assembly. Than some components were discontinued by the manufacturer which led to a redesign, software rewrite and new prototyping. Probably the largest hurdle was when our molds did not come out right from the first time (takes 35-45 days to make) and our second iteration of molds was hit hard by coronavirus. 

2. Another large obstacle that delayed us a lot was the fact that the money collected from backers was not enough to make all the molds and electronics designs and produce a minimum batch of parts for the assembly. The problem with plastic parts is that the minimum order for printing them is 1000 units and it has to be paid up front. Took a while to secure funding from an investor. 

3. Corona virus. Well. You know. Everything stopped. Imagine trying to run production meetings with China from Ukraine and US trying to explain complex nuances of coil making over Skype and painfully waiting for the new version to be customs cleared out of China for weeks sometimes. And then redoing it again. All instead of simply flying there and resolving the issues within a week of fast changes and prototyping.      

 Now to the good news. Where are we now? 

1. We have redone the molds which came out fine from the second attempt. The first production prototype of the housing was approved with minor comments. Our new molds are now being polished to ensure minimal gaps and no slack between parts. We are planning on ordering the first production batch of plastic parts early next week. Electronics will take less time so components will be procured and board printed while we wait for the shaft and coil plastic parts. Meanwhile we will be working on setting up production and assembly. Very much hope that we will be allowed to fly soon! 

2.   Android and Apple Apps. We have originally planned to roll out the new design on Android first but in the process of working on them it became clear that they need to be done in parallel to ensure uniformal operation on both platforms. Apple was a tougher but to crack on the back end of the app. Anyways, two apps coming simultaneously with complete redesign. Expect them on Play Store within 2-3 weeks from now and slightly later on App Store (their app audit takes much longer.) Pictures below: 

3. While waiting for the parts and dealing with production issues we have completely rewritten the coil firmware. It is now a very mature code product that should work stable and even use less battery. There is always good in bad, 

All told we are finally on track to production, assembly and delivery of your detectors. Hope to have them delivered within two months from now. 

Sorry again for no updates here and HUGE thanks for your support and patience! 

Your AIR MD team.

Test video with the new firmware
almost 5 years ago – Mon, Feb 17, 2020 at 01:18:54 AM

Dear members,

While we are waiting for the news about the progress on new molds (the virus got NY holidays extended in China) we wanted to treat you to some fresh prototype testing results. We did it live from the field testing today. Please see the links to our FB page below. Please follow us there for faster updates and more media.

Please disregard the handle (taken from a different device - waiting on ours from the factory) and the coil cover color. We were testing the new firmware in the coil and as you can see it works beautifully.

Will post more from the test day later on.

Huge thanks for believing in the project and looking forward to getting you your AIR Metal Detectors!
Your AIR MD team.

https://www.facebook.com/airmetaldetectors/videos/605415920256822/

and we are off!
about 5 years ago – Thu, Nov 07, 2019 at 11:54:11 PM

Dear Backers,

With great pleasure we are announcing that our final version of housing is now done and our molds are getting produced as we speak. Electronics is also ready and will go into production later this month. 

We hope that molding will come out well from the first go and we will be able to start producing your detectors. Our manufacturing partners are waiting anxiously to start putting together these babies.

Currently the shipping timeline is around New Years and we will keep you updated on our progress. 

Huge thanks for your support and ongoing interest!

Your Air MD team

Another update on our progress
about 5 years ago – Thu, Oct 03, 2019 at 12:53:13 AM

Dear Backers!

We are pleased to report that we are done with all the testing and changes for the housing and it is now ready for molding. 

We have also finalized the design of electronics and are going into pre-production prototyping stage followed by the first production run. 

There will be some hurdles along the way with regards to quality control for production runs (even Apple sometimes has to throw away their first production batch) and assembly but we are moving at a good pace to bring you the product you deserve. 

Thanks for staying with us!

Your AIR MD team 

Long overdue update
about 5 years ago – Mon, Sep 09, 2019 at 02:20:44 AM

Dear all! 

Sorry for not coming back to you for so long! 

We were under impression that all of our backers are following us on our FB page were most updates are posted and discussion keeps going pretty lively and have left you in the dark for far too long now. Sorry for this! Promise to keep you in the loop regularly from now on. 

After we started work on production prototypes of electronics and housing we hit some issues. While testing pre-production PCB batches we have discovered discrepancies in performance due to non-uniform quality of an important component. We have changed the supplier as well as redid and retested the whole electronics design to make sure no other hidden issues are left unnoticed. While at it the team has found new ways of improving power management in the coil (new and better batteries and charging control), improving the stability of the signal as well as sensitivity of the coil. Implementing all of those lead to another series of prototyping and testing. Thus the wait.  

We are glad to confirm that our latest PCB version works exactly as it should. During final tests in the fields this week our prototype was able to find coins that were not discovered in a thorough sweep with big name machines. 

There was also significant progress on optimizing the shaft/handle and coil wiring for mass production. More on this in the next update later this week. Waiting on test results. Our developers are in the fields testing the hell out of the prototypes. 

All in all despite the delays we are moving ahead towards getting you the product you deserve! 

Please visit our FB group page for pictures and info.

Again huge thanks for backing us! We will not let you down!

Your AIR MD team