Okeep

Time went fast, this post is catching up on all we did those past days.

Day 5: On Friday the whole team went to Seed to work hard. Patrick were able to place every components on the PCBs and agree with Victor on how to integrate them in the helmet.

Day 6: Saturday we had a hackathon consisting on prototyping three innovations for the International Red Cross; crutches, a treatment reminder and a body tag. At the end of the day every group had to pitch their ideas through skype to the head of the Innovation Department.

Day 7: Sunday was off and some of us went to Window of the World, a micro remake of the main monuments of the world.

Day 8: Monday we went to Huawei and visited the production line of their smartphone. It was very impressive to see all these machines working, although it is quite automated, human workforce is still needed for few tasks. In the afternoon we went to StarPrototype, a company specialized in the making of object in almost any material and with almost any shape.

Once back at the hotel we were happy to see our 3D parts printed ! (see blog post HUAWEI, STARPROTOTYPE AND SSIP)

Day 9: Tuesday morning we visited DJI, the biggest Drone Company of the world, it was very interesting to see a Chinese Company with such an international culture. In the afternoon Audrey, Patrick and Victor went to Seeed to keep working on OKEEP. The rest of team visited BGI a company hosted in Shenzen able to sequence genomics. (see blog post DAY 15 – DJI AND BGI VISITS)

Day 10 – last day: Wednesday a part of the team were interviewed for the CHIC movie that should be ready in September. We are quite excited to watch it !

Then we went the new office of Seed Studio where we tested the communication. We encountered a little issue, whenever the blinkers are turned on, the front light also start blinking…

Victor integrated all components in the helmet, we are getting there !

After an hour or two there it is, working almost perfectly: the very first real prototype of OKEEP !!

What an adventure since the first day, although it is not over we made a huge progress and we learnt so much ! The whole OKEEP team thanks CHIC !  

Yesterday Adrien tried to go to a bike shop to see the helmets sold and get insight about the market in Shenzen but unfortunately once arrived at the destination there was nothing.

The rest of team worked at Seeed, fortunately we received all components so Patrick was able to start working on the PCBs.

Victor finally finished the 3D file of the box at 3 a.m. so this morning we went to Huaquiangbei to ask for the 3D printing, hopefully we will have it by tomorrow.

On the software part Mikhail realized a little issue, Google Map API do not allow to «re-create » a navigation app. The solution comes from Open Street map and Graphhopper that offer open source API.

Pablo kept working on the website and the app, the design is improving !

Last night Audrey and Victor pitched in front of Chinese markers, it was very interesting to hear their feedback and questions.

Today we went to HAX, the biggest Start-up accelerator, it was passionating to hear from Benjamin about some of the hardware start-up growing. Then we had the chance to pitch our projects and obtain very good advices.

Seeed Studio told us the missing components should arrive at 2pm, however to be sure, electrical engineers went to the Huaqiangbei market to buy some of them. It went well they were able to find all the necessary but one cable with mini USB… very strange as is it a common component !

The rest of the teams stayed in the hotel to work on our respective parts. With business managers from Hibachi and Aimo, Adrien went to Carrefour to see how bikes and other accessories are sold. It seems small and foldable bikes are more sold, price varies from 240 to 2’000 yuan, approximately CHF 35.- to 300.- The purchasing power is definitely lower than in Switzerland. Only one helmet is sold, there are just 3 of them and cost 89 yuan (CHF 14.-). Although many people use a bike or scooters no one wears a helmet, probably because it is hot, and they consider it useless, the question deserves an answer. Anyway, we can conclude Shenzen is not a place where OKEEP could be sold.

Once arrived at Seeed Studio PCBs had been stencilled but we were then told components will arrive at 5pm. While waiting, Patrick and Victor worked on the CAD (computer aided design) of the box supposed to hold the main hardware of the helmet placed on the back. In this way they can final check everything fit together. On another side, 3D printing is planned and should be done soon.

Although Pablo looks very relaxed the website is being made and should be done by tomorrow.

Pitching slides have been refined and some slides were added in case some particular common questions are raised.

Finally, the first day of work is here, everyone is very excited to start implementing their prototypes. But first things first: we need a lot of strength to get through this day. The hotel buffet is here to accommodate everyone:

So many dishes, what to try first?

Adrien having trouble to choose

It is a good thing that we have 10 days to try everything.

After breakfast we all went to the first office of Seeedstudio. As they are moving to a new one this week, we visited the first one, but we will mostly be working at the new place. The old offices seemed quite busy and had a lot of people working there. Ivy Yu gave us a nice presentation about SeeedStudio organisation and then we went on a small tour around the facilities. All the equipment and parts available where quite impressive. Almost everything we needed was there:

Finally, we are here

Ivy explains to us the different aspects of Seeedstudio work

A huge space for makers to work and share their experience

The box looked better from the outside. Must be an unfinished project…

A lot of machines available…

…and some more

All the components that anyone could need

The main philosophy of SeeedStudio is to connect makers around the world to share and create together. Everything that is done there is done using Open Source programs and is available for everyone to get some inspiration.

After the visit of the old offices we went to have a Chinese lunch in a restaurant nearby. All the dishes came in big portions, so everyone could share them. The deep-fried bananas where an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

After lunch we went to visit the new offices of SeeedStudio, where we will be working. We had the chance to all get some fancy new clothes, so we can visit the PCB assembly lines. All the PCBs are assembled, soldered and controlled before being packed and sent out.

After the visit we finally settled in our head quarters. 2 rooms, 2 groups in each room and 30°C, naturally a war emerged on the control of the Air Conditioning, while waiting for the components.

An extra fan was added to help tikku cope with the heat

Unfortunately the wait for components still continues. For most of the groups only half of them arrived and mistakes where made on the PCBs, so it is a difficult start, and not a lot of work has been done in this first day. We could not even get the easy parts, because they where still in the old offices, and would only get to the new ones earliest tomorrow. Let’s hope they will, but in the mean time an alternative solution is adopted: we will go to the Huaqianbei electronics market for everything we can find to advance our prototypes. Wish us luck and stay tuned to get all the information about the advancement!

For the first day in Seeed Studio, we visited the place and started planning the week.

It should be quit busy; Audrey and Patrick the engineers will work on the electrical aspect, and Victor the industrial designer will work on the helmet’s design. Mikhail is coding the app and Pablo, the user experience expert, will help him with the visual aspect. Adrien and Pablo need to work on the website and make few improvements on the pitching slides.

After a nice Chinese lunch we went back to Seeed Studio where we visited their production of PCBs and other electrical component.

Then Victor and Patrick started planning the day and realized we had a small issue, on the back of the helmet we miss 2cm for one of the PCBs, but no big deal a solution is possible. However it was not the only problem, after asking for the actual PCB it appears it was not flexible as they were supposed to be… moreover many components are missing and there a few error in the PCBs… The beginning of the journey is tough, that is work we guess 

Tomorrow we might go to a specific market to buy every pieces, we hope to start working on a real prototype.

The logo is slightly changing, we abandoned the two cute eyes for something more serious.

This is it, we are heading to the final milestone !

The journey seems to end but it is in fact just beginning…

We almost have a prototype for the PCB, the design of the helmet, the app and  the landing page of our potential website.

Finaly from a business point of view we are wondering if we could be profitable… It is hard to say for now but it seems yes we could ! 

We will prepare the milestone tonight, let’s rock it !

This is the last run before the final milestone next week !

An initial version of the electronics is here. So far one mistake has been found and solved, the other one is still being investigated. Unfortunately, the Bluetooth communication is not working, so that’ll make things a bit hard to test!

The OKeep website is being prepared and so will social media accounts.

Concerning the price, OKeep should be sold between 200 and 300 $ although it is hard to test it and to know the margin yet.

We received feedbacks from the last milestone and some good ideas were thrown. For example, before taking the bike the helmet could show the weather (with the leds) so we would know without even using our smartphone if a jacket is necessary.

Tonight the team meets and we will discuss about the integration of the PCB in the helmet.

We are getting closer to a truly functional prototype ! 😉

Milestone 2 went well but we are waiting for the feedbacks. We will keep you updated about that next week !

About the positioning here is where OKeep would be:

OKeep is THE connected helmet for commuters, especially in urban areas. It is a high quality product with a great design. Compared to its two direct competitors, Lumos and Torch, OKeep is more connected (thanks to the audio and the app) and has a better image of quality as it would be more expensive. Indeed, those two brands sell their helmet for 140$ but we would go on a higher price.

The vision of OKeep is focused on safety but also on the connected aspect. That is why we would play both cards: lights and blinkers bring visibility and the audio and the App would add value.

Two very important concerns of OKeep is the design and the handiness. People often don’t wear their helmet because it looks ugly or because it is bulky.

On the electrical engineering part, with the changes in our MVP, quite a bit of the electronics has changed. We should be able to get a prototype by the end of next week! Hopefully there won’t be too many mistakes in the design!

On the application side, the navigation is up and running, though still a bit laggy. Now we need to make it connected to the helmet to stream the audio into it.

Yes it is a big shift for Okeep !

We had this meeting with our supervisors yesterday and their good advice made us take a big turn !

We are leaving the first idea of the 4 devices and are now focusing on a CONNECTED HELMET with blinkers, front light and braking light ! 

In order to keep the feature of a GPS we would add audio in the helmet to indicate the way (it would also allow people to listen to music if they would like to). The challenge here is obviously to still be able to hear the environment around the cyclist.

We will keep you updated… 😉

We met this week and talked about the screen, LED, TFT ? Color or monochrome ? We encountered more issues, what about resistance (when falling), waterproof, etc…

Many questions are raised any time we deal with a component, this is probably what makes the journey exciting.

During the meeting we had the chance to be filmed for the future documentary about CHIC, it was fun to feel like “stars behind the screen”.

On the business side a solution interview has been written, it is now time to schedule interviews ! One interview had already been done and the same problems come up: cables and dynamo. Indeed, the product we are currently designing is definitely better for a B2B model. If a constructor agrees to implement our device directly into the bike, it would be a win-win ! Their bikes would have a huge competitive advantage and our cables would be hidden inside the bike and a hub-dynamo would make the whole perfect !

Tomorrow we will see our supervisors, it is probably going to be an enriching experience for our team and for Okeep that will be challenged, this is what any product need. Be challenged as much as possible, in order to be redefined and get as close as possible to perfection.

For a week holidays are over, we got back to work and from now, we won’t change the core function of our product.

It consists in 4 “parts”;

• 2 patches on handles that vibrates on the side you need to turn and on which you can press a button for blinkers.
• the main device with a screen that indicates the itinerary, integrating one main and powerful light and 2 blinkers lights
• the back device (under the seat) with three lights, two for blinkers and one for braking.

Business made a competitive matrix, it is quite interesting to see different prices and design of products. Some devices like Smart Halo or Cobi look very promising. As our product offers light, blinkers and GPS we made 3 matrix for each feature, here is the one for light.

Mechanical & Firmware Engineering: are working on power saving (sleep modes) and processing accelerometer values to detect braking.

Electrical Engineering is almost there, the schematics should be confirmed by the end of next week. The two next steps will be to design the PCB in a small package, as well as testing the electrical consumption of the device!

On Thursday we have the 1st milestone, meaning that we would present the progress of OKeep. The journey so far is very exciting but not so easy !

Here are some quick feedbacks from our team:

Business: more interviews were made, dynamo seems not to be so much liked by potential customers, the main reason is that it slows down ! The 2nd survey has been posted on many Facebook groups, and we received many responses across the world ! What comes out about the dynamo is interesting, people tend to be ok with dynamo but they all prefer by far hub-dynamo. We also asked if they would prefer a simple battery to recharge (compared to the dynamo) and here is the funny part: it’s a 50-50 ! Thus we believe we should choose a battery if we evolve as a B2C but definitely implement a hub-dynamo if B2B.

Electrical Engineering: Finally got through the choice of all the components. Definitely a hard task when keeping the prices in mind, and still make something that performs well !

Software Engineering: The application is on its way. Nothing very fancy yet. The GPS location and the map is functional, directions are almost there. Bluetooth connection can be established the next step will be to add the data transferability.

The second version of the survey is almost done ! We are now trying to dertermine the price and verify if people are ok with dynamos.

More interviews are in progress, it is important to deeply understand what customers want !

Do you know Waze ? It is the largest ommunity-based traffic and navigation app. Well at OKeep we got inspired and imagined a 3rd optential business model, what about making a Waze for bikes !? In this way you could be alerted if there is an accident or a road in a bad state. In this scenario the device would not be at the center of business but rather a tool essential to use the app !

The next challenge is death angles, we want to find a solution to kill this murderer ! 🙂

We have three potential solutions: flash, “bip”, and laser, they all have their strengths and weaknesses but we are convinced we can create a smart mechanism.

Our connected device will be powered by a dynamo ! After considering using a solar panel (very bad idea in a city center with tall buildings), we decided to use the muscles of our users to prevent them from removing the battery every 2 weeks in order to charge it.

This decision also simplifies the hardware design as it removes one of the microcontrollers.

From a “business” and “user experience” point of view it raises a crucial question: would people be ok with installing a dynamo themselves ?

We must seek the answer to this question and if it happens to be “no”, another solution remains : a B2B business model ! We could try to collaborate with bike constructors and convince them to set up our device on their products in order to make a more attractive bike and differentiate from their competitors !

In this way shops would be more attracted by this new innovation and would probably have more chance to sell the product.