![]()
It's over now, but it will be back!
It was started as a campaign running for 35 days with the goal to manufacture at least 1,000 of these boards. A dream. It ended a week ahead of schedule after I had to limit the quantity to 15,000 boards. What can I say? Even in my wildest dreams I would not have imagined this outcome.
Thank You, thank you, thank you all!!!!
Now we have become a new and amazing community of over 7,000 people who care about the future generations and about the importance of teaching and learning electronics. This is just the beginning, not the end.
Please visit www.borderlesselectronics.org for free tutorials and lessons; I will update the content of this website often. Shortly I will start to cooperate with volunteers in order to get my lessons translated into multiple languages.
If you have time please subscribe to my newsletter and you will receive new updates, for example new campaigns, when and if I will have more boards, etc...
All you need to do is send an email to:
borderless_electronics_updates@getresponse.com
No subject or body text is necessary.
Thank You,
Harold
A brief summary of the campaign:
With this project we wanted to make available an affordable version of the ARDUINO board and help more people to learn electronics.
![A summary of the campaign]()
Status of the project:
![The goals reached]()
Update #3: All this is amazing... let's make it awesome!
I don't know what to say? YOU did it! Thanks, really thanks to all of you. In just 17 days, you funded the project and then pushed it up to an incredible 500% of the goal. We have another 17 days to go so maybe we can try to make it even more incredible!
some of you were already asking about the next stretch goal. Since a few weeks, when I was preparing this campaign, I really didn't think about this. How could I imagine it that it would go this far? I really didn't expect so many positive reactions. So what do to now? I asked myself.
I want to make it clear: there is really no room in the budget to add more stuff. The difference of cost between the 5,000 boards of the stretch goal we have just reached and let's say the dream number of 10,000 is so minimal that it makes almost no sense to talk about it.
Many of you are asking for a micro USB cable, and I can understand it. I didn't include it in the original project simply because micro USB is more or less the standard today, especially with cellphones, so it is very rare to find someone who doesn't have one, but I can understand that having a micro USB cable dedicated to the board and to the projects is much better than using the one that should be dedicated to recharging a battery.
The problem is, that it takes at least one more dollar to add a USB cable and to ship it together with the boards. Unfortunately we don't have any room for this. Even if we double the actual goal, it is still not possible to save another dollar. This is why sponsors exists!!!
And my sponsor agreed to offer the USB cable (the dollar) missing, but on one condition, and the condition will be the new stretch goal. This is not about how much money this project makes, but about how many funders this project can have.
In 17 days this amazing group of friends liking the affordable electronics growth up to over 2,150 people. We have another 17 days to make it 50% bigger!!!
The new stretch goal will run all the way to the end of this campaign. We need to reach a quantity of 3,333 funders. If we can reach out to that amount of people who care about this project; (it doesn't matter if will be for 1 or 100 boards) then my sponsor will offer the USB cable and the additional shipping costs for every single board.
So it is all in your hands. Can you help me with this? We need to bring more friends, to spread the word about this project.
And myself I want to help you with this, so I've decided to launch a referral contest: the one of you, who refers the highest amount of funders will get a big prize: a signed copy of my latest book Arduino Adventures plus a full kit of parts to be used to complete all the exercises from the book, for a value of over $120 plus shipping.
How do you enter the contest? It is very simple! You can see under the video, at the top of the page, the banner for "Share This Campaign", a link that looks like this: http://igg.me/at/9duino/x/1234567
The seven last digit number in the link is your unique ID. So if you use that link (not the example here with 1234567 but the one you can see up in this page with your ID) to share and promote the campaign, for every person that clicks it and/or participate to the campaign, I can see the stats in the dashboard. At the end of the campaign I will publish on the website this list and the one who brings the highest amount of funders will get the prize!
Until today only 270 of you came from a referral, but I'm sure that if we cooperate to try to reach the goal of 3,333 funders this number can increase a lot. Remember that the winner is not the one who brings more funding but the one who brings the highest amount of funders. If you bring a funder that invest $999 and another friend refer 10 people who invest $12 each, the second person will be the winner of the Arduino Adventures book and kit, because it is not about how much we raise but about how many people we let known about this project.
Clearly, for the final result I will not account the referrals from myself and even from our sponsor or any other people/company related.
I hope you like this new adventure. I think it is very possible to accomplish with 17 days left. Do you want to try it with me?
Thank You All,
Harold
Update #2: Stretch Goal #1 met onto Stretch Goal #2
Thank you all for your support.
All of the funders will be receiving a 2.1mm barrel jack with snap connector with every board!
I had a talk with my supplier about my break even point and how I could save money on this project so I could include a small kit with each of these boards. This number came out to be about 5,000 boards (5 x the original amount) so that I could save $1 a board. With that dollar I will be able to create this small kit for each board; which means if you ordered 5 boards you will also get 5 kits. In order to send a kit with each board the new goal of $60,000 must be reached.
Here is the kit I will include with each board if this new goal is reached:
6 x LEDs (2 x red 2 x yellow 2 x green)
6 x resistors for the LEDs
1 x photoresistor and pairing resistor
1 x buzzer
1 x set of jumper wire (10pcs)
1 x mini solderless breadboard
![igg kit]()
Thank you all again for your support together we are going to make electronics education more affordable.
Update #1: FUNDED in only five days... that's Amazing!!!
Thank you all for your support. We still have almost a month to go and I'm starting to believe that we are going to make a big difference by making electronics education more affordable.
I am currently working on some videos and tutorials that will have everyone asking themselves "why didn't I think of that before?"
It is time to set the first stretch goal and I hope I've found one that you will like.
New goal: US$ 20,000
If we reach the new goal, every board will get a snap connector for 9V battery. This will allow you to power your board with a common battery, ready for wireless projects and super safe for kids!
![9V snap connector]()
Thanks again to everyone for the support and please keep spreading the word, so we can reach the new goal!
![Logo Borderless Electronics]()
Electronics can be great fun. Electronics are also a part of our every day life. Knowledge about electronics is vital for the future and is very important to learn and teach it starting from a young age as I did. We want to make the basic tools for learning electronics affordable to anyone, anywhere, by removing all the useless costs and profits.
I'm Harold Timmis from Florida, United States, I am an engineer with a great passion for teaching electronics, an author of books and projects dedicated to learning electronics and Arduino, also published in prestigious magazines like Wired.
I've spent the past few years trying to offer my contributions to extend the knowledge of electronics. Especially with my books, like my last book "Arduino Adventures: Escape From Gemini Station," where with my co-author we mixed fiction and technology to teach kids starting from the age of just 7-8:
![Harold's Books]()
This is what some reader think about my work:
Better than I expected, and engaging!, May 14, 2013
By Benjamin McGough (Seattle, WA USA)
50% through and loving it., April 17, 2013
By Jon Schwarzmiller
(my reference on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Harold-Timmis/e/B007DIUK70/)
These are a few reviews done by electronic enthusiest Blogs:
Geekdad
http://geekdad.com/2013/04/learning-the-arduino-is-an-adventure/
Geekmom
http://geekmom.com/2013/04/arduio-adventures-book/
Make Blog
http://makezine.com/2013/04/02/book-review-arduino-adventures/
WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER
I've recently joined the public library in my city, as a volunteer teacher with the goal of transfering my knowledge of electronics to kids. The Library loved the idea and wanted to start the creation of the class immediatly, but I did face a problem that I was not expecting: the budget.
With the available budget we are only able to set up a class for just a handful of kids. The fact is that the Arduino and other tools are still too expensive, especially for nonprofit organizations like a public library.
So I've decided to dedicate some of my spare time to this project:
with the idea of a public repository of knowledge where volunteers from all over the world can contribute with their tutorials and translations. A Wikipedia for learning practical electronics, from the basics and on.
Theory is nothing, if we can't experiment in the real world what we have learned, and because the Arduino is the most popular tool to start learning modern electronics, I've decided to create this project to give my contribution.
JUST US $9.00! (OR ~€7.00)
I've worked on research, optimization, sourcing, and today I can share with you the opportunity to make a 100% fully Arduino Compatible board at the cost of only 9 US Dollars, or 7 Euro.
To reach this stunning price I didn't cut on quality. I've used the same kind of quality components used by Arduino. In some case I've even added improvements.
To match this cost of production we can't manufacture the boards in Italy, like Arduino, or in United States. We need to do the manufacturing in China, but I've made sure that all of the process' will follow the highest standards of quality and safety, and I will be supported on this by a specialist that's the same person managing the quality assurance for large companies. Of course he's doing this as volunteer as well.
With all this work on research and optimization, today we can share a fully Arduino compatible board at the lowest price I've ever seen, even for large wholesale quantities.
The whole price breakdown is published at the end of the page.
The key is: to remove all profits!
I've asked the suppliers to work with the lowest possible margin and I've cut the whole distribution chain. The product will leave directly from the factory to reach you without any steps (and additional cost) in between.
At the same price that you could pay for 1 single Arduino Leonardo plus shipping costs*, you can today receive 3 of these fully Arduino Leonardo Compatible boards (shipped**):
![9$ Arduino Front and back view]()
*Arduino Leonardo average price from the main sellers US$24.95 plus average shipping costs US$6
** Perk #3 US$31 for 3 pcs of this Arduino compatible board including shipping
THE PRODUCT
I've designed this board starting from the Open Source Hardware project of the Arduino Leonardo (http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardLeonardo) that's released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 licens. This means that anyone can use, share, remix and even make a profit on their project (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/)
As I have years of experience with the Arduino and my daily job is dedicated to design and test of similar products, it was easy for me to make a few changes to improve an already well engineered product.
Here you can compare the $9 Arduino compatible board I propose, with the Arduino Leonardo:
![$9 Arduino compatible board]()
(High Resolution: http://borderlesselectronics.org/igg/board_highres.jpg)![Arduino Leonardo]()
(Source: http://arduino.cc/en/uploads/Main/ArduinoLeonardoFront_2.jpg)
As you can see there are a very few differences:
1) the color, that's just a choice of style and has no influence on the functions
2) some components like resistors and capacitors are from different manufacturers, so they can have different color, but all the values are strictly matched with the original project
3) I've used a different micro USB connector, that I think is more reliable and robust, an important feature as I hope this board will get into the hands of kids
4) I've used a different diode but it has the same functions of the one used by Arduino
5) I've uses a different voltage regulator for the 3.3V, that's pin-to-pin compatible with the one used by Arduino but supports higher current output for better performance
That's it. There are no other differences. Beside the price, of course.
THE TIMELINE
The board is ready for manufacturing, the factory is only waiting for the final quantity; that will be available at the end of this campaign, so the production will start immediately after this campaign is over, 15th of August.
I've organized the whole process to be completed in only 35 days.
During the first 10 days, the PCB manufacturer will create the boards and execute the electronic tests. At the same time, the sourcing office will order and collect all the components.
Starting from the 25th of August the manufacturing plant will run the SMT assembling, the manual soldering of the components that are not surface mounted, and the finshing of the boards. This factory has produced Arduino compatible boards before, so they have experience and knowledge to perform these tasks properly.
At the same time, one of my sponsors that offered their service's for free, will start to prepare all the materials for shipping.
15 days after the end of the campaign the boards will be ready for quality control and testing. The boards need to be programmed with a special test software that I've designed, tested and then programmed again to be ready to work with your computer.
This activity will take about a week and will proceed in parallel with the preparation of the shipping envelopes.
Starting from the 10th of September we will be able to ship about 200 orders a day, but we want to keep a window open for possible delays, so we plan to complete the whole project by the 20th of September, in the worst case.
In case the interest we receive is higher than what I expect (let's say many times the goal) the production time will not be much longer and we can upgrade the output capacity up to 500 orders a day.
If I will really get an impossible to imagine crazy high response, then I will need to add 2-3 days for every thousand additional boards. So let's say that 10,000 will require not 35 but 60 days. Still not that much, so please go ahead with your perk and sharing the project with your friends.
![Timeline]()
THE SHIPPING
The goal is to be cost effective, with the additional advantage of offering the same cost of shipping to anyone around the world.
This is why the only available choice is to ship the $9 Arduino compatible boards directly from China, where we will manufacture it.
The best solution in this case is to use the Regsitered Airmail from Hong Kong Post. This is affordable, fast enough as the shippment delivers in less than a week to most of the larger Countries. Plus it offers an online tracking system.
This is how the shipping envelope looks:
![Shipping envelope]()
At the time of shipping you will receive an e-mail with the confirmation and tracking number.
As the real value of the product is very low, no Countries should apply custom's duties.
THE PERKS
Please note that to make it simple, I've already added the shipping cost to every perk.
Get one for yourself, your kids, your relative or friend. Or maybe get two or three, so you can share with someone.
Perk #1 US$12 - 1 Arduino compatible board shipping included
Perk #2 US$22 - 2 Arduino compatible boards shipping included
SOLD OUT!
Perk #3 US$31 - 3 Arduino compatible boards shipping included
SOLD OUT!
If you are not new to Arduino and you already have done some projects that you had to destroy to use the board for something else; then you know how cool it is to have some spare Arduino's, less expensive but fully functioning. Get five or ten, save a lot of money and keep your projects running.
Perk #4 US$50 - 5 Arduino compatible boards shipping included
SOLD OUT!
Perk #5 US$98 - 10 Arduino compatible boards shipping included
If you are like me and want to share with others, then think about getting twenty or more, setup a class with a very low cost and start to spread your knowledge about electronics. I will also share with you my lessons and tutorials.
Perk #6 US$192 - 20 Arduino compatible boards shipping included
![10 boards]()
SOLD OUT!
Perk #7 US$500 - 50 Arduino compatible boards shipping included
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
SOLD OUT!
And if you are really open minded, then just get a boatload of these boards and give them away to anyone who would enjoy the benefit of learning electronics. With a hundred boards you can supply an entire middle school with technology to spare!
Perk #8 US$990 - 100 Arduino compatible boards shipping included
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
![10 boards]()
SOLD OUT!
THE THANKS
I want to thank my wife, for allowing me to use my spare time to teach electronics and write books.
Thanks to Dimitri from smARtMAKER (that's also my boss duiring the day) for letting me use the company's lab and people for this project and also for being a great sposor of my idea.
Thanks also to Phil from MediaStormPro for helping me with the video. If you need media services you can contact him and find a professional and a friend at the same time!
Thanks to Team Arduino for the idea they had to make modern electronics easy to understand and use by masses.
And most of all, thanks to you! Because you will be supporting this project with your perk and you will share it with a lot of other friends. Your contribution will extend the knowledge of modern electronics for a better world!
THE COSTS' BREAKDOWN
The price of the components is based on 1,000 pcs to produce.
You can download the excel file with these number here:
http://borderlesselectronics.org/igg/9duino_costs_breakdown.xls
PART# |
DESCRIPTION |
PACKAGE |
QT |
COST |
C1 |
100n |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.003 |
C2 |
100n |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.003 |
C3 |
22p |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.006 |
C4 |
22p |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.006 |
C5 |
1uF |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.008 |
C6 |
100n |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.003 |
C7 |
1uF |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.008 |
C8 |
10u |
CPOL-EUSMCB |
1 |
US$0.040 |
C9 |
100n |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.003 |
C10 |
10u |
CPOL-EUSMCB |
1 |
US$0.040 |
C11 |
1u |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.008 |
C12 |
10u |
CPOL-EUSMCB |
1 |
US$0.040 |
C13 |
100n |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.003 |
C14 |
1u |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.008 |
C22 |
100n |
C-EUC0603 |
1 |
US$0.003 |
D1 |
M7 |
DIODE-SMB |
1 |
US$0.010 |
D2 |
CD1206-S01575 |
DIODE-MINIMELF |
1 |
US$0.030 |
EXTPOWER |
POWERSUPPLY_DC21MMX |
POWERSUPPLY_DC21MMX |
1 |
US$0.060 |
F1 |
MF-MSMF050-2 |
500mA |
1 |
US$0.120 |
IC1 |
NCP1117ST50T3G |
MC33269ST-3.3T3 |
1 |
US$0.180 |
IC2 |
LMV358IDGKR |
LMV358MMX |
1 |
US$0.330 |
ICSP |
ICSP |
PINHD-2X3 |
1 |
US$0.017 |
J1 |
USB |
MICRO |
1 |
US$0.040 |
J2 |
8x1F-H8.5 |
PINHD-1X8 |
1 |
US$0.030 |
J3 |
8x1F-H8.5 |
PINHD-1X8 |
1 |
US$0.030 |
J4 |
6x1F-H8.5 |
PINHD-1X6 |
1 |
US$0.025 |
JP1 |
10x1F-H8.5 |
PINHD-1X10 |
1 |
US$0.033 |
L |
Yellow |
LEDCHIPLED_0805 |
1 |
US$0.060 |
L1 |
MH2029-300Y |
WE-CBF_0805 |
1 |
US$0.020 |
L2 |
MH2029-300Y |
WE-CBF_0805 |
1 |
US$0.020 |
ON |
Green |
LEDCHIPLED_0805 |
1 |
US$0.060 |
R1 |
1M |
R-EU_R0603 |
1 |
US$0.002 |
R2 |
NM |
R-EU_R0402 |
1 |
US$0.000 |
R3 |
NM |
R-EU_R0402 |
1 |
US$0.000 |
RESET |
TS42 |
TS42 |
1 |
US$0.030 |
RN1 |
10K |
4R-NCAY16 |
1 |
US$0.025 |
RN2 |
1K |
4R-NCAY16 |
1 |
US$0.025 |
RN3 |
22R |
4R-NCAY16 |
1 |
US$0.025 |
RX |
Yellow |
LEDCHIPLED_0805 |
1 |
US$0.060 |
T1 |
FDN340P |
PMOSSOT23 |
1 |
US$0.120 |
TX |
Yellow |
LEDCHIPLED_0805 |
1 |
US$0.060 |
U2 |
ATMEGA32U4-XUAU |
ATMEGA32U4-XUAU |
1 |
US$3.460 |
U3 |
LP2985-33DBVR |
LP2985-XXDBVR33 |
1 |
US$0.250 |
Y1 |
16MHz |
KX-7 |
1 |
US$0.350 |
Z1 |
CG0603MLC-05E |
VARISTORCN0603 |
1 |
US$0.100 |
Z2 |
CG0603MLC-05E |
VARISTORCN0603 |
1 |
US$0.100 |
PCB |
|
|
1 |
US$0.500 |
TOTAL COST OF THE PARTS
|
|
US$6.354 |
|
|
|
|
|
SMD ASSEMBLING |
|
US$0.550 |
HEADERS MANUAL SOLDERING |
|
US$0.400 |
SANDING AND WASHING |
|
US$0.150 |
QUALITY CONTROL AND PROGRAMMING BOOTLOADER |
|
US$0.300 |
FINAL CHECK AND PACKING |
|
US$0.150 |
TOTAL COST OF MANUFACTURING
|
|
US$1.550 |
|
|
|
|
|
SHIPPING BUBBLE ENVELOPE |
|
US$0.150 |
HONG KONG POST REGISTERED AIRMAIL FEE (Tracking #) |
|
US$2.200 |
HONG KONG POST POSTAGE 50grams |
|
US$0.850 |
TOTAL SHIPPING COSTS (1 PIECE)
|
|
US$3.200 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BREAKDOWN COSTS FOR PERK #1 (1PCS)
|
BASIC PERK
|
|
US$9.000 |
SHIPPING FEE
|
|
US$3.000 |
INDIEGOGO'S FEES |
|
-US$0.480 |
PAYPAL'S FEES |
|
-US$0.414 |
TOTAL COST FOR PRODUCTION |
|
-US$7.904 |
TOTAL COST FOR SHIPPING |
|
-US$3.200 |
NET RESULT
|
|
US$0.003 |
|
|
|
|
|
BREAKDOWN COSTS FOR PERK #2 (2PCS)
|
|
|
BASIC PERK
|
|
US$18.000 |
SHIPPING FEE
|
|
US$4.000 |
INDIEGOGO'S FEES |
|
-US$0.880 |
PAYPAL'S FEES |
|
-US$0.759 |
TOTAL COST FOR PRODUCTION |
|
-US$15.807 |
TOTAL COST FOR SHIPPING |
|
-US$4.050 |
NET RESULT
|
|
US$0.504 |
|
|
|
|
|
BREAKDOWN COSTS FOR PERK #3 (3PCS)
|
|
|
BASIC PERK
|
|
US$27.000 |
SHIPPING FEE
|
|
US$4.000 |
INDIEGOGO'S FEES |
|
-US$1.240 |
PAYPAL'S FEES |
|
-US$1.070 |
TOTAL COST FOR PRODUCTION |
|
-US$23.711 |
TOTAL COST FOR SHIPPING |
|
-US$4.900 |
NET RESULT
|
|
US$0.080 |
|
|
|
|
|
BREAKDOWN COSTS FOR PERK #4 (5PCS)
|
|
|
BASIC PERK
|
|
US$45.000 |
SHIPPING FEE
|
|
US$5.000 |
INDIEGOGO'S FEES |
|
-US$2.000 |
PAYPAL'S FEES |
|
-US$1.725 |
TOTAL COST FOR PRODUCTION |
|
-US$39.518 |
TOTAL COST FOR SHIPPING |
|
-US$6.600 |
NET RESULT
|
|
US$0.158 |
|
|
|
|
|
BREAKDOWN COSTS FOR PERK #5 (10PCS)
|
|
|
BASIC PERK
|
|
US$90.000 |
SHIPPING FEE
|
|
US$8.000 |
INDIEGOGO'S FEES |
|
-US$3.920 |
PAYPAL'S FEES |
|
-US$3.381 |
TOTAL COST FOR PRODUCTION |
|
-US$79.035 |
TOTAL COST FOR SHIPPING |
|
-US$10.850 |
NET RESULT
|
|
US$0.814 |
|
|
|
|
|
BREAKDOWN COSTS FOR PERK #6 (20PCS)
|
|
|
BASIC PERK
|
|
US$180.000 |
SHIPPING FEE
|
|
US$12.000 |
INDIEGOGO'S FEES |
|
-US$7.680 |
PAYPAL'S FEES |
|
-US$6.624 |
TOTAL COST FOR PRODUCTION |
|
-US$158.070 |
TOTAL COST FOR SHIPPING |
|
-US$19.350 |
NET RESULT
|
|
US$0.276 |
|
|
|
|
|
BREAKDOWN COSTS FOR PERK #7 (50PCS)
|
|
|
BASIC PERK
|
|
US$450.000 |
SHIPPING FEE (DHL)
|
|
US$50.000 |
INDIEGOGO'S FEES |
|
-US$20.000 |
PAYPAL'S FEES |
|
-US$17.250 |
TOTAL COST FOR PRODUCTION |
|
-US$395.175 |
TOTAL COST FOR SHIPPING |
|
-US$65.000 |
NET RESULT
|
|
US$2.575 |
|
|
|
|
|
BREAKDOWN COSTS FOR PERK #8 (100PCS)
|
|
|
BASIC PERK
|
|
US$900.000 |
SHIPPING FEE (DHL)
|
|
US$90.000 |
INDIEGOGO'S FEES |
|
-US$39.600 |
PAYPAL'S FEES |
|
-US$34.155 |
TOTAL COST FOR PRODUCTION |
|
-US$790.350 |
TOTAL COST FOR SHIPPING |
|
-US$120.000 |
NET RESULT
|
|
US$5.895 |
It's time for action now! Scroll back to the top of the page and you will find the perks on the right column. Give us your support today and use the sharing functions of Indiegogo to let everybody know it!