Dear Visitors and Supporters,

I’ll be making ongoing changes to this website in preparation for the launch of the EMpick. I apologize if the site has sometimes seemed broken or non-functional. Please email me if you find it isn’t responding. The Project Blog is still being updated for supporters.

The version of the EMpick I’ve been working on uses mostly components that haven’t been affected by the chip shortage, i.e., parts I could actually buy somewhere! Coming up with analog circuits to handle functions I’d previously thought could only be done using digital computation was quite a challenge, but this is now complete.

A small test quantity of the PCB is currently being manufactured and I should see delivery of these in a few days. I will then carefully test each circuit and all the functions. If these test boards are fully functional or can be easily corrected, I’ll construct our first prototype.  This will give us something to demonstrate with videos, etc. And a larger quantity can be ordered, and most of those can be sent to supporters. 

This has been such a beleaguered project. Every time I thought it was close to completion something unexpected pushed it off track. 25% tariff, the pandemic, chips not being available – it’s been nuts. So I’m just going to say “shhh…” 

– Paul Vo