RE: Re: [Project] Project funding

["Dr John Tankard" <john@xxxxxxx>]

> Development costs....
>
> Equipment/Software such as Programmers, Erasers, IDE and CAD
> packages, tools
> etc. Often very expensive to purchase but a "must have" item
for
> the person
> doing the development.
>
> Components. For prototypes you are dealing in small quantities
> and some may
> cost well over ?5 at one off prices. For production runs in 100+
> quantities
> the cost can be less than 50%.
>
> As has been pointed out, there end up being all sorts of
> prototypes that lay
> in the corner as a pile of junk or something Ruff'n'Ready that it
wouldnt
> pass the WAF test. Some savings can be made by using sockets for IC's
so
> these can be reused. Resistors and Capacitors are so cheap you just
scrap
> them.
>
> Microcontrollers such as PIC 16F84 are flash programmable so can be
> reprogrammed many times and are quite good for development but
> are expensive
> for production runs. PIC 12C509 is OTP (One Time Programmable)
> but at about
> 70p is ideal for production. You cant use it for development because
the
> 70p's soon add up to a lot. You need the UV eraseable 12C509JW at
about 12
> quid and you need several of them so you dont have to stop work whilst
you
> wait for the eraser to do its stuff.
>
> Development time.....
>
> The most difficult to quantify. We all know how much we get paid per
> hour/day/week/year. We also know how much more our employers
> charge for our
> work. That gives an indication of what your time is worth. To add
> that cost
> into the equation would make it a totally uneconomic proposition.
>
> Speaking for myself....
>
> I do this stuff because it is what I LOVE doing. IF I make money
> at it then
> it is a bonus. I dont know exactly what KAT5 hardware development cost
me
> because it was bits bought here and there over a long period of
> time, and I
> hate to think how many hours of my time were/are invested in it.
> I guess the
> total cost of development would be at least ?5K if all my time were
taken
> into account but that is just written off as my hobby.
>
> Now that the first KAT5 Units are in production, I know EXACTLY what
they
> cost in both parts and labour. I am making money on them but not
> that much.
> This will however fund further development work. One of the major
> stumbling
> blocks during development was lack of funds. Several times I needed
> something to continue work but had to wait until I could afford it.
>
> I think any sort of "Formal" funding arrangement could well
be a major
> stumbling block, however knowing that there are some people on
> the list who
> may not be able to participate in the actual development work but
would be
> willing to "chip in" in return for some finished goods for
their
> investment
> would be a possible solution to avoiding halts in development due
> to lack of
> cash. Such arrangements should be by mutual agreement between the
parties
> involved.
>
> Keith

Best post yet on this topic. I agree fully.

BIG IF, we produce a device or devices which could be turned to a profit
lets talk about it then. We have a long long way to go first.

John





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