Kickstarter

In this update, we will dig fairly deep into the new networking features (IPv6 stack) of AGENT OS 2.0.  We will also give you a quick update on progress from the watch case design team.

Technology updates

While AGENT OS 1.0 focused its Internet connectivity on receiving notifications from the Internet via a smartphone, AGENT OS 2.0 dramatically extends a watch app's capabilities by enabling direct communication with Internet servers (like a PC or smartphone app can do).

A huge part of this support is IPv6 support over Bluetooth 4.2—which enables communication with the Internet using a BLE-compatible wireless router.  Secret Labs is beginning new software work with IPv6 (Internet protocol) support on the AGENT platform.  Then we will remodel our Bluetooth stack to support IPv6 over Bluetooth Low Energy.

Of course our updated operating system continues to run .NET apps.  As such, we need an IPv6-compatible, .NET Micro Framework-compatible networking stack for AGENT OS 2.0.  To accomplish this and also to maximize the amount of memory available to watch apps, we are using an open source managed code networking stack which consumes only a few KB of RAM. 

Since the open source stack was originally designed as an IPv4-only stack, we need to add IPv6 support for AGENT wearables.  To contribute back to the open source community, we are contributing AGENT's new IPv6 source code back so that others can build their own awesome Internet-connected gadgets.

Here are some technical details on the work we are doing to add IPv6 support in AGENT OS 2.0.

For non-technical readers: the following notes showcase a level of implementation detail deep inside the operating system.  The content is targeted to technical readers and software developers.

Update 1: .NET Micro Framework network configuration

We have extended .NET Micro Framework's network configuration options with a new flag for the NETWORK_CONFIG called SOCK_NETWORKCONFIGURATION_FLAGS_EXTENDED.  This signifies that additional network configuration information is contained in the extended configuration options (which we will discuss in a moment).

In the case of IPv6-only (single stack) scenarios like ours, the only other applicable setting from the core NETWORK_CONFIG is the MAC address of our wearable.  That MAC address helps the router pass data between the Internet and devices like ours on the local network.

The extended configuration settings designate whether the device supports IPv4 (traditional Internet), IPv6 (next-generation Internet) or a combination of the two.  In our case we are supporting native IPv6—and including backwards-compatibility support with IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses.  This requires some routing magic; more on this in a later update.

Of particular note, here are the settings for AGENT OS 2.0:

SOCK_NETWORKCONFIGURATIONEXT_FLAGS_DHCPV6_IPADDR
This flag indicates that the wearable should automatically obtain an IPv6 address via DHCPv6.  We are working on DHCPv6 implementation now and will cover this in a future update.  In essence you will just need to pair an AGENT wearable to your router and it will negotiate its own Internet address.

SOCK_NETWORKCONFIGURATIONEXT_FLAGS_DHCPV6_DNSADDRS
This flag indicates that the wearable should automatically obtain DNS server addresses via DHCPv6.  This enables apps to automatically translate human-readable Internet addresses like ipv6.google.com to IPv6 addresses like [2607:f8b0:4002:c05::66].

SOCK_NETWORKCONFIGURATIONEXT_FLAGS_IPV6_SUPPORTED
This flag indicates that we support IPv6.  Since AGENT OS 2.0 is IPv6-native, no IPv4 support is specified (although IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses are supported for backwards-compatibility).

Watch case updates

House of Horology is currently working on several watch case tasks.  As part of this work they are obtaining material data sheets on each material specified for use in the AGENT Smartwatch case.

Lawrence has been communicating with his management contact at Winson (the watch ODM that House of Horology is working with on the AGENT Smartwatch).  They are currently closed for Chinese New Year but expect to be open for business again next week so we can get the last material data sheets together. 

In the meantime, House of Horology has submitted a document indicating that the leathers, linings and metals and construction of the genuine leather watch straps are RoHS compliant—which is critical to our ability to import AGENT Smartwatches into Europe.

Summary

We are making quite a bit of progress on the operating system upgrade for the AGENT platform.  The first step was adding IPv6 configuration settings, and we are now working on enabling IPv6 auto-configuration using DHCPv6.  Furthermore, we will be contributing this new IPv6 support to the open source community.

On the watch case side, House of Horology is making some progress on material data sheets and is working on other task items including the case itself.  I will continue sharing more details as we cross more tasks off the list there on the path to production.

We are speeding up our Kickstarter Update cadence to share all the new technology updates—and to share the physical watchcase status with you on a more regular basis.  We will be back soon with another update.

Thank you very much for your support.

- Chris

In today's update we will cover our current status: an overview of what we have accomplished so far and items that are left to do—across both software and hardware.  There is a wide breadth of status items to cover so we will try to cover it succinctly.

We will also briefly introduce the roadmap for AGENT 2.0 (both software and hardware) and some trade-in offers from Secret Labs.

First: the status update on the AGENT Smartwatch.  The AGENT Smartwatch is a product of both House of Horology (watch design) and Secret Labs (technology) and both companies have been working as one collaborative team to get it into production.

Technology status

Here are a few highlights of the technology we have built together so far.

AGENT Smartwatch:

• Pre-campaign: designed AGENT Smartwatch circuitry and core OS technology
• Created official smartwatch circuit boards (revision 1)
• Upgraded smartwatch to use advanced super-low-power ambient light sensors
• Created AGENT SDK and Emulator for developers
• Enhanced SDK and Emulator with accelerometer (sensor) support
• Designed a custom Bluetooth stack
• Conducted advanced battery modeling and battery gauge calibration
• Optimized our smartwatch circuit design for domestic manufacturing
• Conducted Qi wireless power receiver validation testing 
• Designed custom, power-efficient, thin backlight w/ microdots for Sharp Memory LCD

Custom wireless charger:

• Designed and engineered a best-in-class portable wireless charger
• Upgraded our wireless charger to Qi 1.1, added fast charging support and incorporated a beautiful RGB LED for rich status display
• Optimized our charger circuit design for domestic manufacturing
• Conducted Qi wireless power transmitter pre-certification testing

We have also literally gotten together, as a community, at three events (Metrotech, the open house and at the MonkeySpace developer conference) where we demoed AGENT hardware and interactively built smartwatch apps together with attendees.  I really enjoyed meeting many of our backers—and am looking forward to meeting more of you at our hackathons once the smartwatches go into production.

The technology team has also set up factory space for final assembly of the AGENT Smartwatch in the USA, procured a large volume of components for AGENT Smartwatch rewards and chargers, and recently moved moisture-sensitive components into protective ultra-dry storage.

The technology design process hasn't been without its own challenges.  We had a supplier fall through and had to move quickly to create a new backlight.  A few sample custom parts came in behind schedule.  We created extra software which consumed unexpected time and resources.  Delays are never optimal but, for better or worse, few worthwhile development projects happen without some challenges.

The next step for the technology team is final integration, where we freeze our development process and pull together and finalize software with final hardware. 

Once the watch case samples are completed and approved, we will be able to manufacture revision 2 PCBs that incorporate spring leaf landing pads (as spec'd for watch case integration by House of Horology's design team).  This will enable us to begin final integration.

Once final integration is complete, we can conduct Qi/FCC certification.  With certifications in hand, we can then start production and physical reward fulfillment.

In the interim: while the AGENT OS 1.0 development train is waiting on watch cases, the Secret Labs team has been busy designing and writing code for AGENT OS 2.0.  The new OS is going to be a fairly radical upgrade and is a fairly huge project.  More on that later in the update.

Watch case status

House of Horology has also been busy working with their ODMs on the watch case for the AGENT Smartwatch.  The watch case design process has been a bumpy road; we will review that journey briefly here to provide both historical-vs-estimated timeline perspective and clarity.

When we launched on Kickstarter, our original vision was to have the AGENT Smartwatch cases manufactured by the same overseas watch design company who House of Horology worked with to design and manufacture their beautiful Bedlam watches.

Unfortunately House of Horology experienced significant communication issues with that company and was unable to complete the AGENT Smartwatch case design with them.  So last spring House of Horology brought a new watch design company on board, Winson Watch, who they have been working with since then on projects including the AGENT Smartwatch case.

Once the switch was made, we came to realize that House of Horology didn't have access to the original CAD files for critical pieces of the Bedlam design which we were re-using for the AGENT Smartwatch.  [Part of our risk-, cost- and timeline-reduction plan was re-using tried and true parts from House of Horology's Bedlam watches.]  So House of Horology and Winson worked together to manually measure and analyze and re-create the hex bar rods and pushers.

When we received the first fit-validation watch case samples, the pushers were the wrong size (as detailed in a previous update).  The hex rods were also three-piece instead of two-piece, had inconsistent off-center hex inserts and used non-typical hex sizes.  These issues, while a bit of a surprise, were in many ways side-effects of needing to recreate these parts from scratch.

Other issues, such as the cracks in the cool edge-to-edge glass case back, were due in part to the fact that the design team is trying new things and pushing boundaries.  For those keeping track, that issue was remedied by switching to a more conventional designer window-in-frame caseback design.

Since the first fit-validation samples, House of Horology worked with Winson to remedy several of the issues in the cases. Around late August, they confirmed to me that the fit-validation case's dimensional issues were corrected and so we started preparing the factory for production.

Unfortunately the latest samples we received do not fit either the backlight or the wireless charging coil.  We're not quite there yet.  We are closer.  I apologize for any frustration the watch case delays may be causing backers while we work through these issues.

Here is a quick non-comprehensive status update for the watch case, to help explain where our team is with the watch case design (which, again, is the gating item before final integration).

Watch case
The latest fit-validation watch cases do not fit either the backlight or the wireless charging coil.  The watch case is also too thick and does not include space for the spring leafs.  House of Horology has been tasked with correcting these inner dimensions.

The design team has done some work to resolve the bezel orientation issue mentioned in previous updates (i.e. to make sure that assembly line workers cannot accidentally insert the bezel at an 180 degree angle).

Spring leafs
House of Horology has specified spring leafs as the mechanical interface between the watch case and the internal circuit board.  I have asked them to provide specifications (either part numbers for off-the-shelf spring leafs or specs for custom spring leafs) on what spring leafs are appropriate for a digital watch like ours.  Since users will be pushing pushers frequently (for navigation, notification dismissal, etc.), getting the spring leafs right is critical.  Our pushers will be used much more frequently than most digital watches.

Water resistance
House of Horology has been working to provide engineering specs on water resistance, so that we can provide wearers with an official ATM rating.  [Similar to designing a bridge to support a certain weight or a hurricane barrier to sustain specific volumes of water, watch cases are designed in CAD to meet engineering specs that assure ATM pressure ratings.] 

In design team status calls, I have been provided conflicting ATM ratings which makes me nervous: I am pushing hard to get these engineering specs from the team.  We will also be testing each watch on the production line to verify its ATM rating, although this process is not used to determine ATM rating (which is instead guaranteed by design).  The in-line pressure test will help ensure that there are no defects in the specific watch case under test and will be used after service work to re-verify case and seal integrity.

Pushers
On the fit-validation samples, the pushers are currently positioned at an ergonomically-unapprovable angle/distance in relation to the watch case.  We are also experiencing quality issues with pushers "sticking" after a short period of non-use, requiring significantly more force to push.  As mentioned in update 22, the design team is also working on providing reliability data (specifically the push force specification and "guaranteed number of pushes" rating).

The incorrect pusher diameter from earlier validations samples has been corrected.

Hex bar rods
The hex size, hex insert position and piece count issues from earlier fit validation samples should now be corrected--and we will verify that with multiple samples.  I should be receiving specifications on the lock-tite style material that will either come on the hex bars or will be added during assembly to keep the hex rods tightened during everyday wear.

Silicone watch straps
We put money down on silicone watch straps but unfortunately they did not meet specification.  The silicone watch strap manufacturer that House of Horology was using committed to remedy the issues but was subsequently unwilling to do so.

In September, Secret Labs sent a sourcing manager to the Hong Kong watch tradeshow and sourced a new silicone watch strap supplier.  The new supplier has off-the-shelf silicone watch straps which are very similar to the original custom straps designed for Bedlam watches (which is what we were using for the AGENT Smartwatch).  We may be making small modifications to the molds to make the holes more round--but generally otherwise the silicone straps look good to go.

Leather watch straps
As part of our risk- and time-reduction measures, we had originally planned to use House of Horology's off-the-shelf premium leather watch straps.  Unfortunately there were some quality issues with some straps they received and as a company they decided to further improve and/or change suppliers on their watch straps.  We still expected that the straps would arrive by around the end of October of last year; unfortunately it has taken longer than expected to make the changes and secure the new straps.

We recently received updated leather watch strap samples from House of Horology.  Lawrence is working to get us a material data sheet so that we understand what material the watch straps, buckles, etc. are made of--and critically House of Horology has been asked to ensure lead times are down to the standard 30-60 days.  We hope to have these straps approved for production very very soon.

Material data sheets
Most critically for exporting AGENT Smartwatch rewards worldwide: in additional to wireless certifications, we as a manufacturer are also required to understand and declare environmental aspects of the materials that we are using.  Each of the components that goes into the AGENT Smartwatch and its companion charger has what is called a data sheet.  This data sheets list materials used and/or environmental ratings (RoHS, Pb-free, chemical content, etc.).  We are required to have these in hand and know that the materials comply with international import/export regulations before we can sign off on manufacturing.

Also critically the datasheets give us written verification that the materials that we are using in the watch case—and their properties—are consistent with what the watch case design team and watch case manufacturer have specified and verified during the design process.

Like with House of Horology's Bedlam watches, the AGENT Smartwatch needs data sheets for each material used in the watch and its companion charger.  We have datasheets for each of the electrical components used on our circuit boards.  For the watch case itself, House of Horology has been working with Winson and the leather watch strap supplier to get material data sheets these last few months, a process which has turned out to be unexpectedly slow. 

The good news is that as of this last month I have now received a number of the watch case materials' datasheets and I should have the final datasheets shortly.  I will be following up on this with Lawrence during House of Horology's regular status report later today.

In summary, we have made progress on the watch case but there is still work to be done.  I have asked Lawrence for an updated timeline on the watch case; with that I can update our overall timeline estimate.

I know that the watch case delays are frustrating. But for better or worse it is critical to get the hardware right.  Hardware, unlike software, cannot be updated via the Internet.

Introducing AGENT OS 2.0

With AGENT OS 1.0, our goal was to deliver a compelling smartwatch operating system that complemented smartphones and could also run watch apps written in C#.

With AGENT OS 2.0, we are again pushing the wearables industry forward.  We have thought a lot about the future of wearables and how they fit into the emerging "Internet of Things."  And, for that future, Secret Labs has designed AGENT OS 2.0 and a new, complementary wearables technology architecture (more on the new hardware in a moment).

To be clear, AGENT OS 2.0 is a major project that we are working on; it is under development, not shipping this quarter. I understand that some backers are frustrated by what appears to be a lack of progress on the technology front (since so much of the technology got wrapped up earlier in the process—and so little of our current technology work is visible).  We are determined to remedy that, and starting today we are sharing the next-generation software work we are doing for you.  A lot of the technical detail will bring you early into the process, something we were unable to offer with AGENT OS 1.0 (since so much was built before we launched on Kickstarter).

AGENT OS 2.0 Highlights

AGENT OS 2.0, in a nutshell, is designed to do four things:

• Make smartwatches more intelligent as part of the larger "Internet of Things"
• Provide a thoughtfully redesigned user experience
• Enable us to take advantage of a three-year-forward leap in technology
• Provide a high level of security for apps and users

Here are the highlights of what we can announce today--which is a lot of what you will see us working on over the coming months as we push AGENT OS 2.0 closer to release.

Bluetooth 4.2 and IPSP
Today's smartwatches need a smartphone to connect to the Internet.  While a smartwatch makes a great smartphone accessory, there are a huge variety of scenarios where direct internet connectivity (via a Bluetooth-compatible Wi-Fi router, etc.) is a huge benefit.

There is a new wave of Bluetooth radio technology coming this year, and as part of AGENT OS 2.0, we are remodeling our Bluetooth stack to support the brand new Bluetooth 4.2 standard and IPSP (i.e. Internet access over Bluetooth). 

We have already started that work now, creating a new IPv6 networking stack designed for wearables.  That stack will run on top of our remodeled Bluetooth 4.2 stack.

And to give back to the community, we are open sourcing AGENT's new IPv6 code to help makers create their own Internet-connected gadgets and wearables.  We will publish the first IPv6 code by the next month under an Apache 2.0 open source license.

[For those unfamiliar with IPv6, it is the next version of the protocol used to carry traffic around the Internet.  There are backwards-compatibility provisions to help ensure that you can still access existing (IPv4) Internet servers/devices.]

Bluetooth 4.2 also has great new privacy features and more.  Our initial focus is getting IP support up and running but we are not forgetting the rest of Bluetooth 4.2's new gifts.

Secure Boot and Crypto-Authentication
Hackers are finding more and more creative ways to disrupt technology and hurt its users.  With AGENT OS 2.0, we are supporting crypto-authentication hardware.  Similar to TPM in a laptop, we will be able to know that AGENT firmware and apps have not been nefariously tampered with.

On the flip side, crypto-authentication can turn your smartwatch into a secure "key" to interact with home automation devices.  Expect door locks and similar devices to recommend or even require crypto-authentication in the future.  With AGENT OS 2.0, we are ready for that future.

Home Automation.
Speaking of home automation, we are working on some capabilities that will enable smartwatches to securely identify their wearers and, when used with compatible home automation hardware, automatically cater to a user's preferences and location as they walk around the home.  Secret Labs has been working in the home automation field for several years; expect some cool things along these lines by this holiday season.

New User Interface Framework
This will be the most visible change and exciting for app and watch face developers.  It is also the part that we are earliest on, development-wise, and will probably take the longest to develop.  We are deprecating our trusty and loveable old Microsoft.SPOT.Graphics namespace and will be replacing it with a shiny new UI framework.

User Accounts and Cloud Services
We cannot announce this today.  We will post about this in the future.  Lots of love for Azure.

Support for New Microcontroller Architecture
We cannot announce this today.  Secret Labs will blog about this separately.  I am very excited about the capabilities this will bring to wearables.

AGENT002 (AGENT 2.0 hardware)

The AGENT Smartwatch is a collaboration between Secret Labs and House of Horology.  As part of that collaboration, House of Horology secured a one year exclusive on AGENT Smartwatch technology.

That exclusivity period has now expired and Secret Labs has gone back to the drawing board and has created a redesigned-almost-from-scratch, three-year-newer wearables architecture.  

To be clear: AGENT002 (the next-generation AGENT hardware) is a Secret Labs product, not the Secret Labs + House of Horology physical reward for this Kickstarter project.  Out of respect for House of Horology--since they are not involved with AGENT002—I plan to post about AGENT002 hardware on a separate blog.

Also to be clear: Secret Labs wants to take really good care of backers, and will be offering to trade-in (SL+HoH) AGENT Smartwatch rewards for new AGENT002 hardware, once AGENT002 hardware is ready.  To do that we need to follow a specific procedure which I will outline in the next section.

And to be excruciatingly clear: we did not already completely develop AGENT002, keeping it in our back pocket with it ready to ship today.  AGENT002 is a very forward-looking technology product and it will be using chips which are not quite shipping yet.  We cannot share all of the details about the product yet.  We may need to make changes to it in the event that (industry-leading) suppliers struggle to ship their new technology.  I am incredibly excited about the new platform.

Again: the current AGENT Smartwatch hardware is still very leading-edge in its class and I absolutely love its design and capabilities.  It will be able to take advantage of a subset of the new AGENT OS 2.0 features.  Some backers are huge fans of House of Horology products and will not care about a three year technology upgrade.  Wherever you fall in the spectrum, our whole team wants to take good care of you.

Trade-in offers from Secret Labs

With all of that out of the way, this brings up one final point.  As we detailed in the previous update, we have already purchased a huge volume of parts for AGENT Smartwatch rewards.  The new AGENT002 hardware platform uses very few of the same parts.  And there is basically no reasonable "resale" market for parts--especially for year-old parts that need to be stored in dry storage.

Over the last few months, the Secret Labs team has been working through options on how we could turn existing smartwatch parts into other products so that we could buy AGENT002 parts for backers who want to trade-in for the three year technology upgrade.

We have come up with a list of a half dozen "maker, wearable and home automation" products and accessories we can design this year using about half of the parts.  We're still working on finding potential homes for the other half of the parts.

So first things first, Secret Labs is offering trade-in options for physical AGENT Smartwatch rewards. 

This is an option being offered by Secret Labs and is not a required action for backers.

Option 1: Stay the course

• If you are a big fan of House of Horology gear or just love the AGENT Smartwatch as-is, stay the course.  Secret Labs will continue to work professionally with House of Horology to get the watch case wrapped up, do final integration, and ship physical AGENT Smartwatch rewards.

Option 2: Next-generation AGENT002 hardware (trade-in)

• If you would like to make the technology upgrade to AGENT002, you can have your AGENT Smartwatch reward delivered to Secret Labs—and Secret Labs will ship you an AGENT002 instead. 
• Just in case: if AGENT002's retail price ends up being lower than the pledge tier amount of your physical reward, Secret Labs will also send you a complimentary gift certificate equal to the difference (see notes on gift certificates below).
• For "with charger" vs "without charger" backers: Secret Labs will take care of you there too.
• Important note: AGENT002 is a product under development.  Crazy things can happen including cancellation of product plans, in which case the trade-in would be cancelled and option 2 would be replaced by option 1 ("stay the course").

Option 3: Secret Labs gift certificate (trade-in)

• If you would like a gift certificate (equal to the pledge tier amount of your selected physical reward), you can have your AGENT Smartwatch reward delivered to Secret Labs and Secret Labs will trade you for a gift certificate. 
• Gift certificates do not expire and are valid for use toward the purchase price of Secret Labs products.
• You can use your gift certificate for current or future Secret Labs products—including future AGENT gear and any of the gear we will build with the parts from your AGENT Smartwatch reward.
• The Secret Labs gift store will open on 30-Jun-2015.  Secret Labs is a small business and does not have a million dollars worth of gear in stock, but Secret Labs will manufacture enough gear so that there is something for everyone who trades in for a gift certificate.
• Gift certificates cannot be used to pay sales tax or postage.  We know that international shipping is more expensive—so as part of the trade-in Secret Labs will also provide $15 in complementary shipping to international backers.
• Secret Labs will begin issuing gift certificates on or before 30-Jun-2015.  If the AGENT Smartwatch physical rewards are not yet ready for shipment, Secret Labs will issue gift certificates regardless and will do the trade-in on behalf of backers "in advance".  If demand for gift certificates is very high, Secret Labs may issue them in batches to help ensure sufficient inventory stock levels, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Trade-in offer instructions

This is an option being offered by Secret Labs and is not a required action for backers.

If you would like to trade in your AGENT Smartwatch reward for option #2 or #3 above, please send an e-mail to tradeinagent@secretlabs.com with the following information:

• One of the following sentences:
  - "Please send my reward to Secret Labs. I'm trading in my physical reward for the AGENT002 hardware upgrade (option #2)"
  - "Please send my reward to Secret Labs. I'm trading in my physical reward for a gift certificate (option #3)"
• Your name
• Your Kickstarter handle
• Your e-mail address
• Your current shipping address (which can change later...we mostly need the country)

Summary

We have accomplished a lot together so far. 

The project has taken a lot longer than any of us wanted and, again, please accept my apologies for that on behalf of our whole team.

Backers who want a no-charge upgrade to future AGENT technology have the choice to do so.  Backers who want to skip out and pick up a gift certificate instead have that option too.  In either of those two cases, Secret Labs will figure out how to turn parts from your AGENT Smartwatch (1.0) reward's parts into something else so you can take a new road. 

Again--these are simply options provided by Secret Labs.  At this time Secret Labs continues its professional relationship with House of Horology as we collaboratively get the original AGENT Smartwatch (1.0) to the finish line.  I am also excited to see Lawrence's new watches come to market, and Secret Labs continues to extend House of Horology its gratitude and respect.

Over the coming weeks, we will have a lot of technical details about AGENT OS 2.0 to share.  I know that a lot of our backers are going to love deep details about things like IPv6 and Bluetooth packet formats and user interface code.  For backers that care more about fashion and less about technology, I'll try to warn you in the post header so you don't get burned out by the heavy technical content.

Thank you as always for your support; with lots of technical content to share, we'll be back later this month with Update #27.

Chris

This year our team has been slowly pushing through the watch case design process (after switching watch case ODMs this spring and effectively restarting much of the process).  The watch case remains as our blocking deliverable before final integration—and I really appreciate everyone's patience while the design team has been working through the case design process.  I expect to have a fairly detailed overview of our status for you within the next two weeks.

In the meantime, I realized that there are a lot of parts of the process that we could have—and probably should have—photographed and documented for backers.  One of these was last year when we received nearly a million parts for AGENT Smartwatches and chargers (as discussed back in Update #14).  I am going to try to start making up for that by including some photos in today's update along with details about what we are doing to preserve the quality and solderability of those parts.

Circuit board assembly and moisture

Circuit boards (such as the smart movement inside the AGENT Smartwatch) are assembled in a process which requires high-temperature soldering.

In this process, solder paste is applied to the metal contact pads on top of an unpopulated circuit board.  Then electronic parts are placed onto the contact pads (with solder paste sandwiched between the parts and the contact pads).  Finally the populated circuit board is placed in a reflow oven which melts the solder paste. 

Melting the solder (soldering) is what creates a strong electrical connection between the parts and the underlying circuit board.  To melt the solder, the heat in that reflow oven has to be very hot—around 500 F (260 C).  Each one of the components used on the circuit board has to be designed to withstand that heat.

Some components are moisture-sensitive.  This means that too much moisture can stress and damage the part during the soldering process.  If not handled properly, potential moisture-related damage during soldering varies from invisible cracking inside the component to internal delamination to visible bulging of the parts and more. 

The bottom line is that the parts must be stored in dry environments before assembly so that moisture doesn't seep into the component and then cause damage during soldering.

Moisture sensitivity ratings

To protect moisture-sensitive components from moisture-induced stress during shipping and prior to assembly, component manufacturers place these components inside moisture barrier bags.  These bags are usually rated to provide a dry environment for up to a year.  The bags also provide seal dates and moisture handling details (i.e. how long the components can be exposed to ambient humidity before they must be put back into dry storage).

As an example, here is what a reel of Bluetooth modules looks like in its factory-sealed moisture barrier bag.

And here is a close-up of the label, describing its manufacture date and moisture-related handling requirements, etc.:

Here is a quick primer on how to read the label:

Top-left corner: Panasonic PAN1326.  This is the manufacturer and module name.

(1P): ENW-89823A2KF.  This is the part number of the part.

(9D): 1336.  This is a date code.  "13" means the part was manufactured in 2013.  "36" designates week 36.  The 36th week of 2013 was in early September.  We received these parts within weeks of their factory seal.

(Q): 1000.  This is the quantity.  This reel, one of several that we purchased for AGENT Smartwatch rewards, contains 1,000 Bluetooth modules.

Here's a quick link to the part at Digi-Key.  Currently listed at $8,682.24, this is a fairly expensive reel of parts.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ENW-89823A2KF/P16277TR-ND/4196667

At the bottom of the label, the bag includes a moisture and temperature handling rating.

MSL/Temp: 3/260.  This means that the parts inside the bag have a moisture sensitivity level of 3 and a maximum soldering temperature of 260 C (500 F).

What does a moisture sensitivity level rating of 3 mean?  Here is the official list (as found on Wikipedia and in the official IPC/JEDEC standards document):

MSL 1 = unlimited floor life
MSL 2 = 1 year floor life
MSL 2a = 4 weeks floor life
MSL 3 = 7 days (168 hours) floor life
MSL 4 = 3 days (72 hours) floor life
MSL 5 = 2 days (48 hours) floor life
MSL 5a = 1 day (24 hours) floor life
MSL 6 = custom (printed on bag) floor life

For these ratings, floor life means an environment with temperature less than or equal to 30 C (<= 86 F) and relative humidity less than or equal to 60%.

We therefore need to keep these Bluetooth modules in dry storage when not being used—and only take them out of storage for up to a week for assembly (before putting them back into dry storage to dehumidify them).

[As an aside, some backers may be asking if there is a backup procedure if parts are accidentally left out of storage beyond the allowed timeframe.  There are "hot bake" and "dry bake" procedures that can be used with special baking equipment—subjects which deserve articles of their own and are outside the scope of this update.]

Many of the components we purchased are moisture sensitive before assembly.  As we were placing moisture barrier bags (which are pushing beyond their expiration dates) into ultra-dry storage, I took a few photos for backers.  I am including some close-ups here too, for those who are interested in the MSL ratings of various parts.

Some moisture-sensitive components (on reels/in trays)

Here is a photo of the 6,000 ATTINY1634 microcontrollers we purchased.  In our dual-processor configuration, this chip is the ultra-low power secondary processor.  These boxes typically come sealed with the moisture barrier bags inside.  The MSL data is therefore also printed on the outer box.

And here is a close-up of the label:

Here is a bag of the main processors (Atmel SAM4SD32BA-MU) which we have been demoing on the devboards and the smartwatch PCBs (smart movements).

And here is what some of the 10,000+ Atmel microcontrollers look like in the dry storage cabinet:

More moisture-sensitive components

In addition to microcontrollers and Bluetooth modules, several other components (especially the more complicated parts) are moisture sensitive.  Here are photos of a few of them, factory-sealed.

As one of the cornerstones of AGENT architecture is low power consumption (for awesome battery runtime), we run several chips at reduced voltage levels inside the watch. That means that we need to convert some of our digital signals to higher voltage levels that other components (such as the memory display) understand.

Digital signal voltage converter chips are often quite power hungry: we could not use those chips for our low-power design. Luckily Analog Devices makes these amazing (albeit expensive) level converter chips which consume mere microamps of power.

Along the same ultra-low-power theme, here is a reel of the ultra-power-efficient and ultra-sensitive light sensors we purchased for AGENT Smartwatch rewards.

In part due to the sophisticated and miniaturized technology in the parts we used for the AGENT Smartwatch and charger, a lot of other parts are moisture-sensitive as well. As one example, here are a few of the Texas Instruments parts (wireless charging chips, ultra-low-power power conversion chips and more) used in AGENT Smartwatch rewards.

Finally, some of the parts are not technically moisture sensitive--but we wanted to take photos of them for you anyway. We opened up one of the boxes of Sharp Memory Displays for this quick photo.

Dry storage

Since the moisture barrier bags are expiring, we moved the moisture-sensitive parts into protective dry storage.  The dry storage cabinet keeps parts at a humidity of less than 5% (desert-like conditions).

Here are the moisture sensitive components, now stored in ultra-dry storage.  We also packed some non-moisture-sensitive AGENT parts into the extra space in the cabinet for a visual on what nearly a million components looks like.  (For reference, non-moisture-sensitive resistors and capacitors are featured in the bottom section).

Summary

We desperately wish that we could have assembled these parts into smartwatch rewards already.  With the expiration of moisture barrier bag seals, we have taken steps to protect AGENT Smartwatch components.  Once the watch cases are ready, we can move into final integration and then begin the (very delayed and much anticipated) process of manufacturing AGENT Smartwatch rewards for our backers.

I know that this journey is long—certainly much longer than many of us expected.  I know that delays are frustrating.  I offer my sincere apologies for the delays and any frustration that comes with those.  Hopefully this update provided an insight into the detail that the team is putting into every part of the process, to ensure that we deliver rewards that we can all be proud of.

It goes without saying—but thank you again for your support and patience,

- Chris

This last month the watch case team has been sorting out the mechanical integration between our watch case and smart movement (circuit board).

We also received silicone watch strap samples from the new strap supplier and a preliminary leather strap sample.  And we have finished up preparations of the factory space where we will be doing final assembly and service work for AGENT Smartwatches.

Mechanical integration

Inside traditional analog watches, the watch case's pushers (buttons) interact with the internal analog movement in a purely mechanical way.  With many modern watches and with our smartwatch, the pushers activate internal switches which trigger the watch to take action via software instead.  There are many ways to do this; knowing this, we designed our smart movement (circuit board) to be adaptable for various mechanical integration options.

With the AGENT Smartwatch, the watch case design team (House of Horology + Winson) is exploring new waters.  While they have crafted many watches using pre-existing components, they have never had the opportunity to work on a team designing and integrating a new digital movement before.

For the mechanical interconnection between smart movement and watch case pushers: the engineers at Winson have worked with micro-switches before and recommended that we solder micro-switches to the left and right edges of the smartwatch PCB.  This would add several millimeters of width, would require very precise alignment and would potentially require filled buffer space between the pushers and movement to create the appropriate push feel and protect against shock and overpressure.  Understanding these drawbacks, I asked the team to come up with additional options.

One of the great things about building a project through Kickstarter is that so many project backers are willing to generously donate their time and professional experience to making the project a reality.  One of our backers, Martin Calsyn, has stepped up and offered to lend the design team a hand sorting out the mechanical connection between pushers and movement.

[Thank you so much Martin.]

With Martin's expert guidance, the design team has settled on a spring leaf design which the pushers will use to activate the movement's software switches.  This is a very popular design used across many categories of watch companies.

Here is an example of spring leafs used on a Nixon watch (photo courtesy of Lawrence Leyderman).  The center of the spring is attached to the movement's electrical circuitry (e.g. ground plane).  The spring portions are pressed by the watch's pushers.  When a spring leaf makes mechanical contact with the circuit board's plating, the circuit is electrically completed and the movement's software takes action.  As Martin explained, this design offers high resistance to shock and pusher overpressure and provides a reliable mechanical interconnection.

The watch case team is now taking measurement to determine what tweaks need to be made to the watch case.  Our engineering team will correspondingly be making small cutouts and adding plating to the movement to accommodate the spring leafs.

One other issue the design team is working through relates to the number of pushers on our watch.  While spring leafs work great on watches with two pushers per side, it is more difficult to accommodate three pushers.  The team is working through their options and Martin continues to offer his expert suggestions and we expect to come to a resolution soon.

For reference, here is a photo of a GMO watch which uses a different take on spring switches to support three pushers along its edge.

Factory update

This week we completed our preparations on the factory space where we will be doing final assembly and service on AGENT Smartwatches.  Now we will begin moving the components for AGENT Smartwatches into the space.

Many of the components we bought for smartwatch rewards are sealed inside protective moisture-resistant bags.  These bags can store sensitive components for around a year in standard-humidity environments.  Since we bought smartwatch components about a year ago in preparations for production, those bags are nearing their expiration dates.  We will be installing a dry cabinet which maintains desert-like low humidity and will be moving the parts into that ultra-dry storage to extend their storage life.  For reference, once the components are mounted onto circuit boards they are fine in everyday humid environments; the moisture protections are only necessary prior to assembly to preserve good solderability.

Here is a photo of the completed factory space.  Lights, electrical outlets (110V and 208V) and static dissipative carpet are now installed and tested.  It took a few months to negotiate and complete this small expansion and we anticipated that the watch design would already be set for production―but in any case we have critical factory space ready for when the watch case and final integration are complete.

More notes

We received silicone straps samples from our new supplier.  The quality looks pretty great.  Their existing silicone straps do use square holes rather than rounded holes so we need to do some modifications; the finished silicone strap should be really nice.

We also received a preliminary leather strap sample this month.  The buckles were not ready quite yet and we only received a sample in one strap size―but the leather straps themselves looked and felt really nice.  House of Horology has specified genuine Italian leather for them and the material quality is both visible and tactile.

One more note: House of Horology's storefront lease is expiring and with that Lawrence is tweaking their distribution strategy; they are moving this week to their new NYC office location.  Lawrence has a lot of creative ideas for watches and is pretty enthusiastic about how the change will let his team focus more on design; he reassured me that they will continue to sell and service House of Horology brand watches.

Next steps

Over the next few weeks, the design team will be integrating spring leaf switches into the watch design.  They will also be proposing and making any remaining necessary changes to meet water resistance goals, for physical fit and finish, etc.  The watch case is our gating item prior to final integration and we are really looking forward to wrapping its design up and ordering revised samples.

We should also be receiving final leather watch strap samples soon.  We can take photos of those once they arrive.  We can also take photos of the dry cabinets stocked with trays and reels of raw components if backers would like to understand what that looks like, how it works, etc.  For our engineer-backers, we can go into lots of geeky details if requested.

I know that we are far behind schedule getting the mechanics of this watch wrapped up.  From your private messages and notes of encouragement, I can feel how enthusiastic and at times impatient our backers are to get their hands (and wrists) on smartwatch rewards.  Thank you all for your patience while we get this watch case wrapped up and move forward to final integration and production.

Thank you so much for your support,

- Chris

This last month the watch case team has been finishing up their work on the watch case.

We have also been busy sourcing backup suppliers and preparing the factory space where we will be doing final assembly and service work for AGENT Smartwatches.

In this update we will share photos of some of the fixes the watch case team has made—as well as a photo of our work getting the factory space ready.

Watch case updates

The watch case team has completed several design fixes this last month, and Lawrence is pretty confident in the changes they have made.  As of this morning he believes that the watch case is now basically ready for production—albeit with a few work items remaining, some of which we will highlight below.

Pusher Diameter

In the fit-validation samples, the pushers were only 4.5mm in diameter instead of 5.0mm as used on the prototypes.  The new pushers look great and Lawrence feels that the push-feel is much better now too.

Front Bezel

After reviewing the CAD design files for the memory display and watch case, the design team made some changes to the bezel itself.  There is now a cutout for the display tail which should provide extra stress relief.  The mounting pegs for the backlight have also been moved in closer to the screen, providing a larger buffer area around the pegs.  The design team is confident that these changes improve the watch design and do not cause mechanical interference.

Some mechanical features around the ambient light sensor and some aesthetic features were temporarily removed during the revision process and the design team is working on adding those back now.  Those features are not shown in the drawings, above.

Backlight

The design team has recommended that we slightly reduce the size of the backlight itself to more easily fit into the current case revision.  Our engineering team is reviewing those dimensional recommendations to see if doing so is possible without reducing the illumination area or quality of the backlight.  Quality is key here.

Wireless charging coil

Alongside the backlight, the design team has also recommended that we resize the charging coil to more easily and more snugly fit into the current case revision.  Wireless charging is tricky and the current coil was expertly crafted to shield the circuit board from wireless charging and to maximize efficiency—but we are working to see what changes can be made without reducing the quality of the charging experience.

Silicone watch straps

We have been having some troubles with our silicone strap provider.  In summary they do not seem to be willing to fix the issues from the previous samples as agreed.  House of Horology has recommended that we switch to another watch strap company for the silicone straps.

Earlier this month, both House of Horology and Secret Labs went to the annual Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair.  House of Horology was working on their private watch lines and also met up with Winson Watch to complete work on the AGENT Smartwatch. 

A Secret Labs sourcing manager was at the fair meeting with a wide range of suppliers (for watch cases, straps, packaging and more).  While we have been very patient with our current suppliers (and as some backers would attest—much too patient), simply put we are now 15 months into a 4 month watch case design process.  We want to make sure we have contingency plans.

As such, one of the great contacts we made at the fair is a silicone strap manufacturer who already makes silicone straps which are very similar to our silicone strap requirements.  They are sending us samples now; if those samples meet our criteria then we will be able to fast-track the silicone straps with this new supplier.  We may or may not end up paying a bit more, but both quality and the ability to supply straps on time are critical at this point.

Factory space

We are big believers in domestic manufacturing.  As part of the AGENT Smartwatch project, we wanted to make sure we could do both final assembly and service in the United States.

The last few months we have been working through a small expansion which gives us enough space (up to 1,000 square feet) to do both final assembly and service of AGENT Smartwatches.

Here is a photo of the factory space which we took last week.

The building owner is currently installing anti-static carpet and CREE high-CRI LED lighting.  This will give us an ESD-safe zone which we can use both for final assembly and for service work. 

The high-CRI (Color Rending Index) lighting is reasonably similar to sunlight and enables us to inspect products for visual inconsistencies and defects.  Since the AGENT Smartwatch is a fashion piece as well as a high-tech product, we want to make sure it looks beautiful during both final assembly and service.

For backers who would like more photos and videos of the space where AGENT Smartwatches will be built and serviced, please let us know what elements you'd like us to photograph in the comments below.  We can also take more photos as the building owner finishes up the space in October.

Next steps

Over the next few weeks, we will be working with a new supplier to expedite the silicone straps.  We are also scheduled to review updated samples of the leather straps (which House of Horology is refinishing at the moment for best quality on the buckles).  And the engineering team will be working with the case design team in regards to the backlight and coils.

We will also be gathering the material data sheets, reliability test data, water resistance engineering support documents, etc. which are required for production.

We are significantly behind our estimated schedule in regards to completing the watch case.  As such, we will continue to be super-focused on getting the watch case done this month.  Once that is completed, we will move forward to final integration and production. 

We know that so many of you are looking forward to taking these final steps together with us; thank you very much for your continued support, your significant patience and your kind notes.

- Chris