One of the interesting transitions in an open hardware project is moving from a working prototype to something that can actually be manufactured consistently.

I've reached that stage with Hestia32.

I'm happy to share that Hestia32 is now working with Seeed Studio on bringing the hardware toward production.

There isn't a finalized production agreement yet, but we've been working through the practical manufacturing side of the project.

Optimizing the BOM

The prototype BOM isn't necessarily the right BOM for production.

We've been reviewing the component selection and optimizing the BOM with production costs, availability and manufacturing in mind.

This is one of those parts of hardware development that isn't particularly exciting to look at, but it has a major effect on whether a design is viable beyond a handful of prototypes.

Production quantities

We're currently discussing an initial inventory level in the 100-200 unit range.

That gives us a realistic starting point without immediately committing to a large production run.

We're also discussing larger enclosure production runs, including the possibility of around 500 units.

Enclosure production

The enclosure is another part of the design we're working through with production in mind.

In addition to the current 3D-printed enclosure approach, we're looking at production options including two-colour enclosures.

I'll share more about the enclosure once there is something tangible to show.

What's next?

The longer-term plan is to work with Seeed through its Co-Create/Bazaar ecosystem, making Hestia32 available beyond the initial crowdfunding campaign.

For now, though, the planned first step is Crowd Supply.

If you'd like to follow Hestia32 and get notified when the campaign moves forward:

Hestia32 on Crowd Supply

There's still plenty to do before production, but this is an important milestone: the project is moving from designing and validating hardware toward figuring out how to make it available to other people.